Deadline
by Hypnotized.By.Golden.Eyes
Summary: Alice has a vision and becomes convinced that she's going to be killed soon, no matter what. Jasper and the family are determined to stop it from happening at all costs, but as her deadline nears, things take an unexpected turn for the worst.
1. Preface

**My first Jasper/Alice story! So exciting! **

**It took me forever to come up with a plot I liked for this story, so I hope I can pull it off and you will enjoy it. As always, please review and tell me what you think - it would be greatly appreciated. :]**

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><p><strong>Deadline<strong>

_Summary: Alice has a vision and becomes convinced that she's going to be killed soon, no matter what.  
>Jasper and the family are determined to stop it from happening at all costs. But as her deadline edges nearer, things take an unexpected turn for the worst.<em>

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><p><strong>.:Preface:.<strong>

Rain pelted his body like bullets, changing into the illusion of tears running down his cheeks — an illusion that he felt every bit was real. He stood at the crossroads, burning with purpose, with strength, but also with hopelessness. He tried not to let the panic consume him. As a trained soldier, it was something he excelled at — usually.

Jasper glanced at the watch on his pale wrist. _Six hours_.

There was no time to spare. Yet, here he was, stuck in a downpour at a fork in the road, lost. The Porsche's engine hummed behind him, its headlights bright and strong as they illuminated Jasper's stiff figure. Jasper didn't know why he had gotten out of the car, why he was frozen in the middle of a deserted highway onramp, why he wasn't speeding down the highway in either direction already. His frustration only grew when he had checked the time, and he couldn't help but remember the promise he had made Alice, the promise to protect her. He'd sworn it on his life. It had been easy, for there was nothing he wouldn't be willing to sacrifice to keep her safe, nothing he wouldn't hesitate to do.

Now, racing against the rising sun, Jasper felt angry at himself for going against his word. And it hurt him to know that there _was_ something he would hesitate before doing. It wasn't enough to stop him if he had to, but it was enough to slow him down, because either way, it would kill her.

Frowning deeper, Jasper clenched his fists as he looked back and forth between onramps, wanting desperately to hit something, or scream, or sob, or all of the above. This feeling of hopelessness was drowning him more than the ruthless weather. He never imagined it would come down to this, to a fight against _him_. He loved her, too, after all. And he was going to kill her if Jasper didn't get moving.

Jasper knew he didn't have the luxury to stand there, but neither did he have it to guess which direction they went. It was a fifty percent chance, and if he went the wrong way...it was over.


	2. Instinct

**CHAPTER ONE**

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><p><strong>.:Jasper's POV:.<strong>

"So, tell me again why I owe you money?"

"You spun a ten."

Esme stared at Emmett like that explanation made absolutely no sense, unless he was trying to play her—and from past games, it was very possible, in her eyes.

"Really," Emmett assured, chuckling lightly at her expression. He pulled out his Career card. "I'm a Police Officer—"

"Lord help us," Rosalie muttered from the recliner.

"—and it says right here that whoever spins a ten owes me $10,000 for 'speeding'. Check it if you don't believe me."

Esme read the card with a frown and narrowed eyes. Reluctantly, she accepted the terms and forked over her money. Bella watched the exchange with amusement, her ruby eyes peeking over the bills of fake money she had fanned out in her hands. My newest sister laughed now, but she had yet to fall victim to one of Emmett's made-up rules; when he wants to, the guy can be convincing, especially when it's your first time playing a game and are therefore more easily influenced into believing him. I can hardly blame Esme for not being willing to listen to him without proof. Although, the fact she's never played the game of "Life" before seems odd, I think.

"OK, my turn," Bella said, once Esme was done moving her plastic car forward ten spaces and collecting her earnings. The spinner landed on five, and Bella gladly stopped at the red stop sign on the board that informed her it was time to get married. "Can you hand me an Edward, Jasper?"

I gave her a little blue man to add to her car.

"You mean you're not going to give a big production about getting married this time?" Emmett grinned.

Bella shot him a dirty look. "This is just a game."

"Ah, save the drama for reality. Got'ya."

"Be quiet and spin."

"OK."

"No, wait!"

"Too late," Emmett said, spinning the wheel.

"But I wanted to buy car insurance."

"I know," Emmett chortled.

"Emmett! That's not fair." Bella scowled.

Esme and I laughed.

"Bella, dear, you must accept that you can't be gullible when playing games with other members of this family," Esme said.

"How was I being gullible?"

"You let him get under your skin, just as he wanted," I explained. "You became distracted because of it, forfeiting your turn before you achieved everything you wanted to." Bella's scowl deepened, while Emmett took his turn with a grin almost too big for his face. "Believe me, Bella, it will only get worse as time goes on," I warned her.

"Perfect," she grumbled.

The game continued in a similar fashion—we spun, we lost, we gained, we joked, we learned, we laughed. It felt nice to laugh. I wouldn't be surprised if all the laughter we've been engaging ourselves in lately has simply been for there to _be_ laughter.

It has only been roughly three months since December and my family's disconcerting encounter with the Volturi coven and their guard, and we were all glad it was over. For now.

It was hard for me to see the ones who governed the laws of our world in such a negative way, when I had revered them so much in the past. Not to say I am not still grateful for their intervention in the south—their presence and their duty has helped keep vampires restricted, and the death toll down for vampires and humans alike. But the Volturi have become a problem. Their greed, getting out of hand. In retrospect, it was inevitable that, no matter who they are, every leader has to be replaced over time. Perhaps that time is stretched longer for immortals, but Aro, Caius, and Marcus have definitely outstayed their welcome.

And their unyielding pursuit on Alice particularly isn't something I appreciate.

I listened for the distinct feel of my wife's emotions. Alice was upstairs, content in whatever she was doing. She was humming a song I knew well simply because she listened to it often. It wasn't one of my favorites, but I do grow to like the things she does... For now, I was simply glad she was happy.

And the Volturi would take that away from her. They'd do anything to have her, to have a psychic in their midst. Even when they had no need for one, being as powerful as they are already. Even if it meant hurting her by disposing of the ones she loves.

Some things cannot be forgiven. Once their mission to destroy an immortal child was no longer valid due to the proof that my niece Renesmee was a solid, safe species truly conceived by my brother and his mate, the Volturi should have saved their pride and went home. They have no one but themselves to blame for what the vampire world is gossiping about—questioning Aro and his true motives.

Although, I knew the Volturi blamed us above anybody.

I took my turn, spinning the colorful wheel that would determine my "life's" fate, and continued to wonder about when the Volturi would strike again. It's something we all feared. Nothing ever good happened when they were mad. It was worse when you're the one that angered them. And they _were_ angry — I had felt it firsthand. My gift of feeling emotions might not be as impressive as Alice foreseeing the future or Edward's mind reading, but it was more informative and helpful than most think. People tend to overlook the power of my gift, but that was fine by me — it produced less attention. I was never one who sought out the spotlight, and it was safer for me on other accounts, as well. Sometimes I wished Alice had a gift less appreciated by others, if only to protect her from those greedy enough to try and take her.

Alice would never be taken. It's one thing, among many, that I wouldn't ever let happen. Even when there are stronger forces against me. Even when I might forfeit my life while doing so.

I smiled. "Nice. I Collect $100,000, and I passed a Pay Day." By my calculations, this put me in the lead. Emmett's envy, and misleading smirk, proved it further; it always amused Edward and I when our brother tried to poker-face it with an empath — or a mind-reader, for that matter.

"Just wait until my next turn — you'll be needing that money real soon."

"Wow. You truly believe that, don't you?"

I had to give him credit for his unyielding optimism.

"Just wait," he repeated.

As Esme took her turn, Emmett's smile never left his face. He even looked at me with an exaggerated warning in his eyes. Bella grinned when I started laughing, then she shook her head at us, stating something about silly, overly-competitive brothers.

Esme moved her piece, and suddenly I felt an unexpected jolt of fear.

My eyes went back to the board, watching Esme take her turn, wondering what her plan was. When it was clear nothing significant was happening, I checked the others—their pieces were both stuck on 'lose a turn' spaces. Bella had a lot less money than she had earlier, and Emmett was having terrible luck regarding spins, always hitting low numbers and landing in terrible places. I made sure to double check again, but I still didn't find anything that I should be worried about. I had this game in the bag. I knew that, if things continued the way they were going, and if I kept watch on whatever tricks Esme or Emmett had up their sleeves—I wasn't particularly worried about Bella, as she was still too naive for this family's way of playing games—then there was a clear path to victory for me. The game of Life could be unpredictable, and my strategies could prove pointless when it was all over, but there was nothing right now that should catch my attention as a problem. I could spot nothing that should worry me.

It wasn't until I realized this thoroughly that I knew I had mistaken the troubled emotion as my own, when it was not.

Rarely did I feel anything this strong when it either wasn't positive or my own emotion. In the past, most exceptions had to do with Edward and Bella, if not them being the source. Each of those times, the emotions I felt were caused by something too big for the person feeling them to handle on their own. Their feelings derived from something they could hardly control, but had to face anyway, how ever risky. The stress I am feeling and am now in control of—hurrying to keep it to myself and whoever is responsible, not accidentally infecting anyone else in the household—was powerful enough for me to mistake as mine, and as that doesn't happen often, I fear the worst. I had to remind myself that it was different for everybody — it might only be frightening to them, rather than the family as a whole. Still, I disliked anyone in my family struggling, and I might have to step forward to help them any way I can, whether they ask for my assistance or not.

I traced the terror to its rightful owner, and my stomach sank when the source was upstairs, in my room. Alice.

Concentrating on her now, my body tensed automatically, and I straightened up. I vaguely heard Emmett tease me about it, mistaking my involuntary reaction for something that was triggered in response to the game.

The suddenness at which Alice's emotions changed was likely due to a vision, I thought. There had been an instant decline in contentment, an increase in alertness, and the primary emotion of fear had naturally been replaced by anger, then sadness. Anxiety swirled through her, mixed with confusion, like something startling wasn't making sense. I could picture her on her feet, staring off into a space that cannot be seen by the rest of us, her eyes wide, pupils dilated.

Before I could act on the urge to ditch the game and go to her, she was already coming down the stairs — almost as if in response to my need to go upstairs.

Esme smiled when Alice walked into the room, being the only one other than myself to acknowledge her entrance; she then proceeded to be peacemaker between Emmett and Bella, who were suddenly arguing over a rule.

Alice's expression showed no trace of the emotions I sensed from her. She stared evenly at me, probably knowing what I wanted to ask. But she simply pulled up a chair and sat down next to me.

I couldn't be positive, but I assumed she had come down to say what she'd seen. It felt as if it had been urgent. If she was downplaying it now, or if it just startled her at first, but wasn't as big of a problem as she had thought, I couldn't tell.

Then again, maybe I could.

Alice stared at the game board for a long while, seeming to take in everything on it — where our game pieces were, who was who, what spaces we must have landed on to get what we had. Her mind was locked on it. In the process, her emotions were being reeled in very precisely. Her interest in the game and determination to feel only good things overruled anything else that might be stirring in her.

Suspicious, I continued watching her. She met my gaze only once, and it was to encourage me to pay attention to what was going on in the game. It was Emmett's turn, meaning mine was next. But I didn't care. Alice wasn't fooling me, and it made me wary to think that she was trying to.

When Emmett's turn ended, Alice hurriedly took my turn for me. I assumed she must have seen that my lack of response to the game would bring attention to _her_. Of course she didn't want that, did she? Which proves my point further that she, for some reason, must want to hide whatever it is she saw in the future.

Her sudden laughter caught me off guard. Apparently, she landed me on a space that forced the other players to give me money. For a moment, all I could catch from her emotions was joy, pleasure, pride that she had helped me. Unlike seconds earlier, this happiness wasn't forced, so I smiled at her. This pleased her more, and I was happy to taunt Emmett to make her laugh again.

Once my turn was over, however, and Alice believed I was attentive solely to the game, as I laughed with Emmett, my wife faded silently, purposely back into the background. She had her arms folded tightly around her chest now, and her muscles would tense and relax in uneven rhythms, while her eyes shifted around the room, from the windows to the doors, as if feeling the need to escape. I grimaced, for even though she might have acute control of what she allows herself to feel in front of me, I've spent years perfecting the language of one's body. Immortals are no different than humans in some aspects; emotions trigger automatic responses in everyone. Fidgeting eyes, readying muscles, defensive posture — all signs of fear. Whatever Alice had seen, it was still on her mind, and it was irritating her. She froze all together when the sound of crunching gravel indicated that Edward's Volvo was coming down the drive.

"Esme, you and Carlisle need to _slow down_."

I focused back on the board just in time to see Esme happily pluck her third and fourth child—twins—out of the box and add them to her car, rightfully dubbing them Jazz and Rose.

"Seriously. I think you've hit every 'Get a baby!' space so far," Bella said.

"It seems my life in Life is blessed then, right?"

"Until you land on a space that makes you pay $50,000 for every child." Emmett grinned, and I knew he was hoping for it to happen.

Esme was now in the lead, despite this being her first time playing Life, so Emmett was all for a merciless game. As for Esme's success, I'd call it Beginner's Luck, but the stir of confidence in her was telling me otherwise. If I didn't know any better, I'd think our sweet mother was, in a way, hustling us. She always did have a deceptive side that she liked to bring out once in a while, keep us on our toes. And Emmett and Bella were completely unaware of the truth. Not that I was going to tip them off or anything—allowing Esme to fool my other two opponents will give me a better chance at winning.

"It would be bad," Esme agreed, "_if_ I did not have all this money." She ran her fingers over the corners of her stack, flipping through blue, green, yellow, pink, and orange bills. "I don't know what to do with it all."

Clearly, she was rubbing it in our faces. I was now dead certain Esme was not new to this game. She met my eyes, and I gave her a small smirk that told her I knew her secret.

"I have to go," Alice announced, amidst our antics.

"Where?" I asked, my attention instantly one-hundred percent back on her.

"There's something I have to do. It's nothing, really." She smiled, as though that was supposed to assure me. When Alice stood up, she noticed my expression. "We can talk about it later, okay?"

"Later," I agreed, kissing her cheek.

Did I honestly believe it was nothing? Of course not. As much as I wanted to press her about it, I had to convince myself that Alice would tell me when she was ready. She always did. So I held my tongue and watched her leave. I stared after her until she was out of the house, and then I listened as she sprinted away, into the forest.

Why did she go into the forest? What was so important in the woods? Or perhaps she was going to run the whole way, wherever she was headed? But then the question, still, was _why — _why hadn't she taken her car? She loved to drive, and did so whenever she could. There _must_ be something wrong. More so than I suspected a minute ago.

I had to remind myself that at least she wasn't going to keep it from me — she told me she'd tell me later, right? Whatever it was, it didn't seem she wanted the rest of the family to know and, like months ago, when she and I left the family, there had be a good reason behind her decision. But also like that time, I wanted to trust her completely, yet I could not keep myself from worrying.

Emmett reached across the table and smacked his hand on my shoulder, obviously sensing my disappointment regarding Alice.

"Women," he said, shaking his head as if Alice's action was the result of an inevitable female trait.

"We're sitting right here, too, you know," Bella said, gesturing to herself, Rose, and Esme, both of whom were also eying Emmett.

Emmett raised his eyebrows, still looking at me. "You see what I mean?"

"That's it, give me one of your Life tiles." Bella reached over and snatched one from his pile.

"Hey, that's completely unfair! I only had three — Jazz has about fifty."

"But he knows how to keep his mouth shut."

"Women," Emmett grumbled again.

Edward entered the house a minute later, after parking his car in the garage and dropping off a couple of bags of food in the kitchen. There wasn't much we needed when it came to food at the moment; Renesmee was gone, as was Jacob. On a trip to visit Charlie and the wolves. It was hard for us to let Nessie go. The initial plan was for Jacob to head back to Washington to get the rest of his things, the stuff he left during our move, and to check in on his pack, who had new living arrangements. Apparently, Carlisle and Esme graciously left our old house in Forks to Seth, Leah, Embry, and Quil. I heard it took a lot of convincing on Jacob's part as he tried to get Leah to see reason. In the end, she and the others obviously took the offer. I suspect doing so allowed them to remain a part of Jacob's pack while keeping close to their tribe; moving away from it, even when no longer connected to Sam, must feel like a betrayal to them, and Jacob couldn't command them to go back to Sam - he refuses to command anything from them. Something I don't blame him for.

Renesmee, of course, had been missing her grandfather and the pack since we moved. When she heard of Jacob's trip, she desperately pleaded with her parents to let her go. There was no winning with that little girl. She had us all wrapped around her fingers, and Edward and Bella were no exception to the rule, as parental as they try to be at times. Knowing it was only a week trip helped, and they allowed her to go, setting rules like making sure she and Jacob called them at least twice a day.

They barely left yesterday afternoon, but already I can feel that everyone misses them...or at least Renesmee. I wasn't quite used to Jacob yet myself, after all that's happened. Though I suppose I will have to be sooner or later.

"Hi." Bella greeted Edward with a kiss.

"Who's winning?" Edward asked. But by the smirk on his face, one that he directed at our mother, it was clear he already knew.

"Esme, I think," Bella answered anyway. She sighed. "It's definitely not me — I've been in last place the entire game."

As the others laughed, I couldn't keep my thoughts off of Alice. It was hard for me to join in my family's fun when there was something wrong with my wife. I wondered if Edward heard anything in her head before she could get far enough away, or if he had even been paying close attention to her. Edward wasn't the type of guy to pay distinct attention to any one person's thoughts without a good reason. He kept an eye out for us, but he didn't like intruding.

My youngest brother looked at me, confused and questioning. I just shook my head in response. Him being unaware of what I was talking about already answered my question. And I doubt it would be farfetched to guess that Alice had left specifically to hide what she had seen from Edward, who was now staring out the window with concern, looking out at the direction I remembered Alice running off to.

Our game of Life ended smoothly and rather subdued. Emmett seemed pleased that whatever was suddenly distracting me was enough to stop me from gloating about how I was the winner. Honestly, I had no idea how I beat Esme, who came in as a very close second. Even so, I did nothing to earn bragging-rights. It was simple luck that helped me win.

While helping Esme disassemble the game board and put everything away, she shot me brief, curious looks several times before asking the question that was on her mind.

"So, what was wrong with Alice?" she asked, her tone casual, but concerned. "It looked like something was bothering her."

It shouldn't have been surprising that Esme had noticed something was off, but admittedly, I was a little shocked. She was very good at catching these things.

"I wish I knew the answer to that," I said, being honest.

"Well, I am sure Alice can handle it. She'll tell us if she needs to." Esme placed a comforting hand on my arm, smiling reassuringly.

I sighed. "That's what I keep telling myself."

And yet, something inside me was clenching uneasily. I took a moment to think back to a time when my instinct had ever been wrong — it never had.

OoOoOoO

It was late, past 2 AM, and Alice had yet to come home. It was no surprise; Alice sent me a text hours earlier saying she wouldn't be home until early morning. I was hoping she meant _early_ morning. Clearly it was not the case, but I had hoped, partly because I was worried about her and I wanted her home, with me; the other part of it was that I couldn't keep myself distracted enough while I anxiously waited for her to return. Esme had noticed how keyed up Alice was, but nobody realized the extent of it when she ran off this afternoon, or was even aware of her vision. But something was definitely going on. Something I hoped wasn't as unsettling as I felt it was.


	3. Premonition

**Thank you so much for the kind reviews. :)**

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><p><strong>CHAPTER TWO<strong>

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><p><strong>.:Alice's POV:.<strong>

The burning afternoon sun peered from behind thick clouds, the wind chilled gradually as night made its appearance, and then, finally, the full moon illuminated the earth as the clouds dispersed around midnight. Through it all, I sat perched on the edge of this rock, overlooking a waterfall and the valley of raging water below it, hoping that it could wash away what I had seen. There was nothing I could do to clear my head enough to make sense of the vision I had earlier today, the one that had me struggling to keep my emotions under tight control, even if I miserably failed at it.

Although I was positive Jasper was questioning himself about my obvious behavior, I wasn't nervous about him prodding. Jasper was going to give me the space I needed whether he wanted to or not, because it was my desires he lived by. I couldn't see when he'd break, but I knew this wouldn't last forever. Never mind that I did promise him I would tell him later.

How far would I be able to stretch my meaning of the word 'later', I wondered...

The future told me it was a short lived plan.

What I really wanted to know, however, was how long it would take me to discover the mystery behind the vision I was inexcusably planning to lie about, and if solving it would do any good in the end.

Sighing, I folded my legs up against my chest and wrapped my arms around them, resting my chin on my knees.

_Sixteen days_, I thought unhappily.

For all that was unclear about what I had seen, when I searched for the date there was no doubting where it fell.

At first it wasn't exact, as the date had been more or less undecided. It hopped from Monday to Wednesday to Tuesday to Friday in visions that were mere minutes apart. And it jumped around so erratically that it seemed whoever was making the decision wasn't even trying to make it — which in itself boded something terrible. But now it appeared that, as much as that person's mind wanted to continue to change, they were set on April 22, three days after the Spring Carnival. It was a little more than two weeks away. Just two weeks.

And when that day came, my life would end.

It was supposed to, anyway.

Although I should be worried about this, I was more confused than anything.

What I had seen, the vision, hinted fear, pain, anger, and then gave crystal clear evidence of my violent end before everything went black. There was such little to grasp that I knew there had to be more to it, something that clicked with something else. But never did I find a match. Even now, hours later, replaying the vision over, again and again, there were not many reachable details.

So what was I supposed to make of it? Struggling to solve it and not being able to, all I could wonder was if it would ever end. How many more times would I see this family lose someone? Flashes of death have filled my head for too long, consecutively, and here was yet another. Mine.

The only thing that eased my anxiety — if only a little — was the fact nobody else in the family seemed to get involved. No one else would be hurt.

Of course, as much as I was glad about such a resolute outcome, it made me question the reason for it. Why was I the only one being targeted? What did I do, when for the past three months I've been with my family, firmly stressing ourselves to keep a low profile? After everything that's happened, all we wanted now was a time to relax, to be together, to cherish Renesmee's short childhood before she grew up too fast. So what could I have possibly done to bring this upon me?

And, the most critical question I faced, which was not just a musing, but a rather serious question holding a deep need for an answer:

Who was the killer?

The fact I had no idea frightened me more than anything at the moment. And it did not help regarding my confusion, either.

I closed my eyes, concentrating on what I had seen.

A man in a room, smirking at me, with intention to kill. Thundering rain weighing me down (it was wet and heavy and loud — I assumed it was rain). An arm locked around my neck, followed by twisting and then a snap. Blackness.

The man was a vampire — red eyes, a pale hue to his complexion. It seemed odd that his attire and posture was more civilized than most nomads, even though when I searched the future for him, his time consisted only of traveling, wandering like a nomad would. He had no specific destination that I could find, yet he seemed very busy, and I could never see him with anyone who speaks his name.

There was something...strangely familiar about him, yet I've never seen his face before. And I can't see that he'll be coming to the United States any time soon, or ever; yet, he must, in order for my vision to play out properly (as if there was anything proper about it).

Hour after hour of analyzing this, nothing was adding up and there was no further information that I could gather. Eventually early morning rolled around, the rising sun just seconds from spilling light over the mountain horizon. It was going to be a sunny day in New Hampshire, up until two o'clock this afternoon, when the scattered clouds would merge together again. School was out of the question, as I already informed the family yesterday. I had planned to spend the day off with Jasper instead. I knew he had been looking forward to it. Unfortunately, I didn't think it would happen anymore. I loved spending time with him — just him and me — but the situation I faced now was a grim one, and I didn't have a lot of time.

I went over the facts again in my head, noting that the killer vampire was making no current decision to come to America, but also noting that the fact I had seen him kill me meant a decision was made about something, somewhere.

Maybe the spark was ignited on my end of things. Perhaps the decision was made by me.

But that didn't make sense, either.

When the vision came to me, I was sketching out designs for the family's Spring wardrobe. It was a project I was excited about and anxious to begin working on. Once in a while I prefer to sew rather than shop; with all the drama that surrounded us recently, I could never find the time or passion to hand-make anything. And although I never really gave it enough thought to miss it, I was still pleased that things have calmed down so I could start something again. It was always so much fun, and the outcome is always beautiful. Not that I would ever brag about it, of course — I grinned. The family also seemed to appreciate their clothes more when I created them myself, something I hoped would wear off on Bella.

The spring dress I was working on when the vision hit me was a light and fun piece for Rosalie. I could not imagine any of the decisions I made in that moment — using a warm peacock feather print, turning a swooping neckline into a V-neckline, having cap sleeves and a crossover front — would affect my future in such a drastic way.

It was ridiculous!

I threw my head against my knees and tried to focus better, focus on the details. There had to be details.

But at this point, all I kept seeing were numbers. Like 16 days. And 384 hours. 23,040 minutes. 1,382,400 seconds, dwindling fast.

Sixteen days would be up in no time. No time at all.

"What's in sixteen days?"

Gasping, with a hint of a growl, I shot to my feet and spun around. My brother stood just a few feet away from me.

"For goodness sake, Edward!"

Edward stared back at me with innocent eyes, as I glowered at him.

"Do not go sneaking up on people who should have seen you coming," I scolded. "You shouldn't go sneaking up on people at all, actually."

How had I not heard him coming?

In my thoughts, I continued to rant at him about his lack of manners, though I wasn't angry, nor did I truly care at the moment about politeness; it was a ploy to distract him — and me, for that matter — from my previous musings. Never mind that I had automatically changed my native language to Arabic, as it was one of two languages I knew that he did not.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I was unaware that you had anything to hide."

"I don't," I said a little too quickly.

He grimaced at the lie, then sat himself in my spot along the cliff, swinging his legs over the ledge and leaning back on his hands. His appearance was relaxed, cool, collected; I hoped I could mimic it convincingly enough.

"Why exactly are you out here in the middle of the night, though, Alice?" Edward asked. "Curled in a ball, I might add."

I wished he hadn't added it. What a depressing picture.

"Why not?" I countered. Sure it was a cliché excuse, but it worked. "It happens to be very peaceful out here. If there is one person who should understand that need a person gets to be alone every once in a while, it is definitely you."

"You're right. I do understand." He casually flicked a rock over the edge and waited until it was swallowed by the river below before he continued. "I also know that, aside from a mind reader trying to escape the incessant voices in his head so he can get some peace and quiet, the need usually comes when a person is battling a stressful situation. Since you are not a mind reader..."

"You forgot that, sometimes, the need just comes," I said, folding my arms across my chest.

"Please, Alice. From Jasper, I know what happened last night. Just tell me if it's serious."

Of course Jasper was suspicious of me, I already counted on that. I saw him questioning me about it more than a couple times after I first had the vision, but then deciding otherwise. He was obviously going to trust me. Still, I supposed he couldn't control the worry, the instinct that I've come to expect from him. I never thought he'd go so far as informing Edward, though. And Edward makes it sound as if something detrimental occurred — which it did...sort of. But they couldn't know that.

Edward locked his eyes on mine. I could see he was not going to leave me alone until I gave him the answers he came out here to get. Irritated, I straightened my blouse and brushed off my pants, though they weren't dirty, and I said the first things that came to my head.

"Look, I can handle it. It really is nothing, despite what Jasper fears — you know how he over exaggerates when my behavior confuses him. The family's not in any danger, nobody is coming... It affects only me. If I need any help, I'll bring it up, I'll ask. I promise."

I added the last part quickly, feeling the vision I didn't want him to know about slipping closer to exposure, as my determination to understand it grew fiercer. But I knew even my word wouldn't appease Edward; he never liked being in the unknown about anything, and he was too stubborn to accept that it was none of his business sometimes.

Edward studied my face, considered the depth of my honesty, and then relaxed.

"Okay," he finally said.

I blinked. For a moment my mind cleared of everything except the fact Edward was dropping it. Just like that.

The light smile that had appeared on his face slowly faded.

"Is there a problem, Alice? _Should_ I nag you until you tell me everything, dig through your head like I always used to do? Sometimes just to irritate you, by the way." He tried not to smile — a playful, brotherly grin edging its way onto his face.

"No! No." I couldn't help but laugh a little. "I am just shocked. Who are you and what have you done with my brother?"

"I am not so hard-headed anymore, you know. At least, I try not to be." His eyes wandered back to the waterfall, staying there this time. His voice had turned distant and thoughtful.

I took his temporary distraction to focus my thoughts on him (and away from me).

Edward has been a lot less disagreeable these days. It was instantly noticeable when Renesmee was born, and Bella happily excelling at her life as an immortal sure helped. He seemed more manly, somehow; rather than boyish. But I'll be the first to admit I kind of missed the days when I could easily irritate him with no effort at all — angry, irritable Edward was fun to taunt.

"You are more like the first and _only_ to admit that," Edward said, rolling his eyes.

I cursed, realizing my thoughts were in English again. I quickly transitioned my mind back to Arabic.

Edward got to his feet. "Trust me, Alice, you still irritate me on many levels and you don't even try."

I smiled brightly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he laughed. Then he turned to leave, but not before glancing at me one last time. The suspicion was clear on his face, and, even without hearing exactly what I was thinking, he knew I was aware of it. "You're not speaking in your native language up there, Alice. You can't deny you're hiding something. But if you need help, I trust you'll come to me. Or Jasper, at the very least."

"Of course I will."

"Alright. I'm holding you to that."

Edward grinned, nodded a goodbye, and then ran off, back to Bella. Seeing as he'd break away from his wife this early at all was proof of one thing: Jasper did _not_ tell Edward what he was worried about.

Not directly, anyway.

Edward always felt the need to act alone in response to someone's troubles, depending on the magnitude of their distress. So him meeting me here proved that Jasper was far more concerned about me than I had thought. Knowing that, it hurt me more to know that I would not be going home soon, that I would not be spending the day with him, that I would stand him up again, some other day, if I needed to... But maybe Edward would tell him that I was taking care of it, that he has no need to trouble himself over me. Maybe Edward would even bend the truth a little, just slightly, even unintentionally. I could see what Edward would tell Bella; he thinks my problem might be a party I'm planning, a surprise, a gift that I can't quite figure out, that I'm not coming up with ideas for. It's a very probable circumstance, with me. Nobody would doubt it, anyway.

Scaling the length of the tallest spruce I could find, I nestled into its branches at the top, tilting my head so I could be caressed by the warming spring breeze, and wishing I didn't feel so guilty for letting Edward think that it was something as simple as a surprise party or a gift and then allowing him to spread the false news as reassurance.

Although, a surprise was an adequate description — there _was_ something unexpected happening in a couple weeks. It just wasn't anything good.

OoOoOoO

Home was the last place I wanted to go, simply because it meant lying. It might not be anything to be proud of for this purpose, but I was glad I was a good actress. The skill came in handy more often than not. Though the worst kind of charade was always the one I tricked my family with. I didn't _want_ to lie to them, to any of them. I never did.

But sometimes I had to. Like now.

Jasper was waiting for me when I got to the house. He was sitting on the staircase when I came through the front door.

"Hi," I said, cheerful and light, greeting him with a kiss.

"Where have you been?" he asked. His eyes told me he had missed me, and that he'd been anxious. I would have to spend the rest of the day with him to pacify his thoughts.

"Hunting," I answered. It wasn't a lie, really, and it would explain why I didn't take a car.

I had already seen the questions Jasper was going to ask me, so I had carefully planned out excuses to extinguish all his suspicions that this was something big — which it was not. I reasoned with myself that the vision might look bad now, but, truthfully, I could easily sort this out. There have been worse cases that I've unfolded and stopped. This one was nothing special; was it really more frightening than the Volturi marching toward us? I didn't think so, even if it was equally deadly for me. So, after I figured this out, then, and only then, would I tell my family the plan. It would spare them any unnecessary anxiety —_if_ I had to tell them at all. There was a possibility that I could spare them from the whole ordeal altogether.

"There was too much noise in the house," I continued, "and I needed to clear my head. There's this design, this plan I've been stuck on...which I will not tell you about, by the way — it's a surprise! But I saw it went bad there for a moment."

And just like that, I had written off the emotions he felt from me at the time I had the vision.

"I see..." Jasper contemplated my words, intently scanning my face and surveying my emotions.

"I'm sorry I took so long," I said, genuinely apologetic. "It was so peaceful by the waterfall that I lost track of time. I didn't mean to worry you. Forgive me?"

He'd forgive me. I saw it happen the moment my eyes widened into an expression of beautiful innocence and sincerity.

Jasper took my hand and pulled me closer to him, until I was right against him, my face tilted upward. Forgiveness emanated off him, into me, and the look on his face told me the rest; he didn't need to say it. I smiled with relief as any doubt he had about my words left his eyes — and his future. No longer did I see him interrogating me later tonight, when we were away from the house and any wandering ears. No longer did I see him questioning me tomorrow, either. Or the next day.

But the day after that, unfortunately, I did see his suspicion back and stronger than ever. I hated how that was so clear in my future, when other things were a mystery to me still. That was probably what was responsible for the current future, I supposed; the fact I still had nothing solved about my vision, and had no game plan yet _to_ solve it, was resulting in Jasper noticing I was still bothered by something in a few days time, and it was going to be worse.

That just meant I had to focus on my premonitions, unraveling the clues hidden there and finding new ones. The future would easily change after that.

There was absolutely nothing to worry about.

Jasper leaned down and brushed his lips against mine, a rush of love tingling down my spin. There was a protective tint to the loving emotion he encased me in, and I wondered if he still needed some reassuring after all.

The rest of the day I spent with Jasper, to make up for leaving him so suddenly, to prove to him I was fine. We went to the movies that night with Emmett and Rosalie. It was a very not-so-funny comedy. Or maybe I was just distracted; the others seemed to have enjoyed it. I laughed when they laughed, but really I didn't see the humor. I couldn't.

I used the two hours to search for the man in my vision, but his future never showed clearly, and on the rare times it did, he was just another vampire going about his nomadic life — traveling, stealing, feeding. When trying to see my future, hoping to find out more about him in this way, only one sole image appeared every time; regarding the man, there was no in-between, no clues that showed he would be lead to me or I would be lead to him. The days go by normally until the very end, when he's with me, when he makes it clear I am his victim.

How could that be, though?

Unless... Unless there was somebody else involved. A second enemy. A greater enemy?

If that was the case, why wasn't I seeing_ them_ in a vision?

For the next three days, I spent most of my free time searching for answers that seemed to be nonexistent. The frustration I faced was...well, it was_ frustrating_. I was downright lost, and for every vision I tried to manifest I felt more and more off-course, like I was headed toward the wrong conclusion, if I was headed toward _any_ conclusion.

It didn't help that, whenever I was asked to go somewhere or do something with someone — shopping with Rosalie, decorating with Esme, baseball with the family — I agreed wholeheartedly to join them. The idea was to leave no evidence in my behavior for them to suspect I had anything truly awful to hide, and it worked. By now, even Jasper had forgotten all about what happened a few days ago.

That was relieving, sure, but things like that used up time — time I could be spending fixing my future, so I'd _have_ a future.

School was the only place where I did not have to pretend so hard, and could spend my time ferreting out clues from the pictures I conjured up. As long as I was in class I was fine, free of interruptions or unintentional eavesdroppers. Only during passing periods and lunch, when I saw Jasper and my siblings, did I have to watch myself. Edward gave the impression he was still a little wary of my thoughts, as I continued thinking in Arabic. But from what I could tell, he trusted me to keep my word. He hasn't ratted me out yet, at least.

I had to keep telling myself I should not feel guilty, I should not feel guilty, I should not feel guilty...

I mean, aside from the explicit scene of my death, the deep-seated dread, and the fact that nothing I think to do — fight back, move location, find him before he finds me (which I can't ever seem to accomplish) — never changes the outcome, there was no proof this was worth bothering anyone with. These were things I've faced before. I was quite capable of piecing this puzzle together myself, like I've always managed to do in the past.

Until then, I just had to keep hiding this from the others. They would forgive me when this was all over.

While I believed that, a small, skeptic voice in the back of my head wondered if I would still exist to be forgiven, when this was all over.

Of course I would!

Of course.


	4. Details

**CHAPTER THREE**

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><p><strong>.:Alice's POV:.<strong>

I was in a room. It was dimly lit — the only source of light was the windows, lined high on the wall, closer to the ceiling. Dust layered the objects around me.

There was a man, a vampire, standing just feet away. He had red eyes, and he was dressed civilly. He smiled at me. I didn't know who he was, but he knew me. He was waiting for me. When he spoke, his voice was low, masculine.

"You must be Alice," he said.

Then the scene jumped. The man was behind me. My neck snapped, was bitten into, and before I knew it, I was consumed in smoke and flames.

After that, there was nothing.

My eyes shot open.

It was just a vision still, I told myself. Just a vision. _The_ vision.

I took a deep breath, the tension in my body dissipating, and then jumped when the front door slammed open. Emmett always slammed doors. It was an involuntary habit and usually nobody minded, but it told me who just came home. I hadn't realized Emmett left the house. Where did he go? How long was he gone?

Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, I realized I'd been distracted for a good two hours and ten minutes. We would have to leave for school in a couple hours.

Disoriented, I sat up on the bed I shared with Jasper, wondering what else I had missed. I very rarely missed anything, for I never allowed myself to. I didn't like the feeling of not knowing, like I was out of the loop; yet, here I was, exactly that. How did other people stand it?

They didn't, I figured; they just didn't know any other way, as I did.

It was no less irritating_ to me_.

I stood up, checking my appearance in the mirror. My clothes were ruffled in the back, my hair a spiky disarray, there were the subtle hints of circles under my eyes, which were tired, as well as alert. I smoothed my pants, straightened my shirt, and left my face alone, knowing there was nothing I could do about it. The dark circles disappeared when I smiled.

If only there was anything worth smiling about.

I left the bedroom before Jasper could act on his decision to come find me in a couple minutes. Snuggling up against him on the couch in the sitting room, where he'd been reading a book Carlisle suggested to him, I breathed a silent sigh of relief; he hadn't caught anything strange in my emotions this time. It was extra relieving, I realized, that Edward wasn't here. I had to be more careful with my thoughts or he was going to see my vision.

As if hearing that I had a secret, Edward's scent filled my nose, along with Bella's. The two came through the front door exactly 134 seconds later. They had gone...'hunting'. Now they were back to get ready for another day at school.

_Another day_, I thought, somewhat sadly.

Life was precious, and knowing when you were going to die should make it more precious.

Do I savor every minute I have left, or do I spend the time trying to escape something that was inevitable?

Death was inevitable. Even for an immortal.

Of course, it wasn't just death headed my way. Death would have been, possibly, easier to deal with. But unlike humans and other mortal creatures, we vampires do not simply face death. We can never just die — we are always murdered.

For whatever reason, I was going to be killed by the hands of another vampire. It didn't matter much to me what the reason for it was. Not right now, anyway. Whether it was trivial and petty or even a misunderstanding, I didn't care; but I felt I needed to know in order to avoid it. Maybe I could correct whatever I did to upset this vampire.

I supposed I knew my choice. Spending my time cherishing being alive before it all ended was not an option. That was the lazy way out. An excuse to give up on fighting.

I would not give up.

I would fight. Always.

"You sure are determined about something this morning." Jasper's voice soothed me, as did his words; sometimes I felt I couldn't trust my thoughts completely, but knowing Jasper could feel that I really was confident to fight, I felt better.

"Of course." I smiled at him. "I just saw that today my class will be assigned a major project in English, and the exciting part is it will actually be kind of challenging for once. You know, for me." Jasper was about to ask for details, so I quickly continued, "So I'll hit the library right after school and meet you guys at home. 'Kay?"

"If you want, I can join you."

"No, no. You will _distract_ me." He grinned, quite pleased with himself, actually. It made me giggle. Apparently, there were still things to smile about. This truly wasn't over yet.

School came and passed in a monotonous, predictable way. It didn't bother me; I liked predictable.

After parting ways with Jasper and my siblings at the final bell, I headed to the library, just as I had told Jasper I would. Research had to be done — though not necessarily for any English assignment. I pondered a moment how much research could actually be done regarding someone I knew nothing about, aside from appearance. Then I decided it didn't matter. If I had managed to discover so much about my human life in Biloxi, then certainly I was capable of handling little-to-nothing details, while still manifesting results.

There was an empty table in the far back corner of the library, right next to the rows of computers. Perfect. I took a seat there, plugged in my laptop at the port available for students to use, and switched it on. Unfortunately, computer start-up still drove my patience up the wall. Humans must hate the slow process, too; a tenth-grader at computer number four was loudly displaying his annoyance with the machine. Instead of following his lead, I took the time to think on precisely what I wanted to know.

Who was this vampire haunting my visions? Why did he look familiar, yet unrecognizable at the same time? How does he capture me, and how can I prevent it?

I worked through it, going backwards, trying to assemble the pieces into a recognizable picture.

Two weeks from today, during a strong thunderstorm, there would be a man, a vampire who would have me captive for reasons I was unaware of. He'd never met me before, which is the weirdest part in it all. Why would he kill me if he didn't know me? A favor to somebody?

As my accusations went straight to the Volturi, I remembered, suddenly, that he did know who I was.

I focused on the memory of my vision, his words.

_"You must be Alice."_

Just remembering his voice made me shudder.

He'd been expecting me, and, never having met me before, he was pleased with my arrival.

But I supposed that still did not explain his wish to have me dead.

So, as that made little to no sense to me, I skipped to the next part, the previous scene.

The man was standing mere feet away from where I stood. He was smiling; a deadly grin.

His smile...

That was what was familiar, or felt familiar, at least. There was something about the way the corners of his lips turned up, the way his cheekbones rose, even the size and shape of his teeth. I've seen that smile before, and with my memory one would think I could recall where I'd seen it with ease. So why was it not connecting?

I tried to decipher the way he was dressed next, and the ways he spent his free time. Whenever I tried to envision this man, he was wandering, but wandering with purpose - visiting acquaintances, finding perfect spots to feed, etcetera. Typical nomad behavior, aside from the number of fellow vampires he seemed to meet up with.

Sociable. That was something. It was better than nothing, at least.

The man was sociable. He knew a lot of people, which also explained why he dressed more civilly than most of our kind. So somebody he meets will lead him to me... But then why was I already seeing the vision, if his decision hadn't been made yet?

Sighing, frustrated, I knew I had to move on.

The room we were in had very little light, and what light there was came from the ceiling. Electrical lighting, probably. It couldn't have been the windows, since there was a thunderstorm and, therefore, no sunlight.

Gratefully, more details had popped up today. Some images were odd, for they didn't seem connected to the others — a flurry of neon lights; something glittering in the dirt near a highway; a bright room, but dusty, which I pieced together with the main vision perfectly. But these were still uncertain. They were just glimpses of things that might or might not happen. Yet, being with that man and him killing me was clear as could be. As clear as the first time I saw Jasper's face in my future. It would happen in thirteen days now. Just thirteen days.

But, somehow, I knew that ominous man wanted it to happen now.

After all my analyzing, it was official: I needed a little bit of help. I had to escape this dead end. The main thing I couldn't doubt was that the man in my visions did look familiar. So I had to find out why.

By the time I sorted this out, my computer's start-up process was finally complete. Too bad I had no patience.

Skipping the research, I was in a hurry to get back to the house as quickly as possible. Emmett was coming down the stairs when I got there. He paused on the last step, tilting his head as he inspected me. I kept my expression blank and unreadable.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

I nodded, somewhat reluctantly, not exactly sure _how_ I was feeling after an entire day with no leads.

"Something's bothering you, isn't it?" He answered himself before I could lie. "Yeah, something is definitely bothering you. You're not all smiles today, flitting around the house, yapping at top speed about things normal vampires see as nonsense."

I cocked an eyebrow at him. "You're going to tell me about _normal_ vampires?"

"Nah." He waved his hand at me with a grin on his face, turning toward the garage, where I knew Rosalie was tinkering away on one of our cars.

"But you might want to tell Jasper what's up," Emmett said as he walked away. "The guy knows _something's_ up, too. He can sense it."

I made my way up the stairs, sighing quietly. I hoped Emmett was wrong. If Jasper was becoming aware that there was still a problem... well, if I was sure Jasper expected me to fill him in when I was ready, with no digging on his part, I knew he would be changing his mind about that real soon, and I didn't have to be psychic to know it.

Right now, however, I needed to find Bella.

When I barged into her bedroom, Edward was with her. They were laying on their bed, feet where the pillows were, glued to each other's lips.

Really, I should have seen it wasn't a good time. I usually caught these things before walking in on them.

"Hello," I said, making an effort to be nonchalant about the intrusion.

Startled, Bella flung Edward off her. He crashed to the floor at the foot of their bed, chuckling as he rolled, while Bella bolted upright, eyes wide and innocent. It would have been hilarious any other time, but I was distracted.

"Um, Alice, hi," Bella stammered, wiping her lips with the tips of her fingers, trying to be casual about it. "We were just, uh..."

"I think it's pretty obvious what you were just, uh, doing, Bella," I said, managing to roll my eyes. What was she so embarrassed about? I'd hate to see her face if she ever walked in on Em and Rose. Actually — I suddenly remembered, resisting the urge to grin — I had seen her face; she was lucky she had me see it beforehand and steer her in another direction.

Edward sat up, laughing again. He rested his arms on his knees, completely relaxed.

"I wanted to talk to you..." I told Bella, but as I said it, I peeked at Edward again. His expression was so carefree and at ease; it used to be rare to see him so happy, but I realized it had now become normal for him. Bella was equally relaxed, when she wasn't embarrassed about something.

"But it can wait," I decided, quickly exiting the room and heading downstairs. I heard Bella squeal as Edward tackled her down to resume their activities. I was glad I hadn't ruined the mood. As much as I needed to talk to Bella about my vision — about the man, anyway — I couldn't do it right now. It's not that I didn't think she'd drop everything to help me; it's just that she and Edward seemed so happy, and maybe some of us should be, especially those two. I couldn't ruin that for them.

With Bella out of the question, who else could I confide in? Emmett maybe, simply because he won't ask too many questions... No, I can't get him away from Rose right now without generating suspicion. Rosalie herself was out of the question; I could see she'd accept, but Rose had a tendency to figure things out. If she ever knew exactly what was happening with me, she would tell everyone else.

As for Carlisle or Esme, well, they'd be worried about me, which is what I was trying to prevent in the first place. That's why Jasper was definitely someone I could not turn to right now. There was a moment very early this morning when I had reluctantly decided that maybe I would confide in him, the romantic mood that lingered after we went 'hunting' ourselves, had been reeling me in, egging me to confess. But then I saw how frantic he reacted and I couldn't allow that to happen in real time.

All these things, and the fact I couldn't firmly believe anyone could properly hide things from Edward's mind-reading, was reasonable proof I had to wait for Bella. To reach my second opinion, she was my safest route.

I stopped suddenly as I passed the dining room, having to take another look at its interior. It was no longer a mess of gray cement, blue tape and plastic sheets, a look that I liked to think of as a work of art in progress; instead, the floor was covered in strips of dark, glossed wood, and arch fixed windows were settled in place along the west wall, which was also freshly painted a nice cream color. The south wall was also painted; the other two walls were incomplete. But the room itself was nearly finished. It looked as though Esme had been working on it today. How could that be? Carlisle had the day off. I knew she was planning to spend the entire day with him, always wanting to save any remodeling of the house for when she was alone.

"Edward said Carlisle and Esme should be home soon." I spun toward Jasper. With my visions elsewhere, I didn't see him in advance, and it made me really hate that I relied so much less on my physical senses and more on my sixth one. Jasper was leaning against the wall, arms folded casually across his sculpted chest. I appreciated that shirt on him; I made a note to buy more like it. But overall, his physical demeanor made me cautious.

"They'll be here with a human, too. Amanda, I believe he said her name is."

What? Who? It didn't make any sense, but then I smelled the scent. A human scent — rich and floral. I hadn't noticed it until now, and by the look Jasper was giving me, he knew I hadn't. It was only a slight movement, but I caught his eyes narrow. Then he continued to explain what I didn't understand.

"Amanda is an acquaintance of Esme's — she works at the fabric store out of town, the one Esme visits often... She came around at ten o'clock, I think, to aid Esme in her quest to spruce up the dining room. It was unexpected, of course. Esme hadn't arranged for the visit; Carlisle was home from work. The two were probably caught by surprise if it was as early as ten. Anyway, Edward said that Carlisle and Esme spent the whole day with this woman, working on the dining room. They just made last minute errands and are now headed back here; they called to prepare us for the visitor.

"But you know what I find most interesting about this story? Apparently, this woman told Esme she had wanted to call yesterday to confirm the plan but didn't have our phone number."

Yesterday? This woman had this visit decided _yesterday._ And I had failed to see. My mind was so focused on other things that I totally missed it! I let it slip right through my sight, and my parents' day was ruined because of it. Poor Esme was looking forward to today. If nothing was going on with me, I would have warned them in time...

Inwardly, I gasped. My eyes slowly rose up to meet Jasper's, and I saw there, in his look, that he also knew I would have warned them in time if nothing was going on with me. It's times like this that I wished he didn't know me as well as he did. I had been foolish in my blind pursuit for answers — my husband's been watching me this whole time. Of course he had. It was so predictable, I wanted to laugh at myself for thinking anything different. Only God forbid I tell him the truth.

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><p><strong>Sorry for the long wait between updates. I know those suck. Anyway, thank you, as always, for the reviews. :]<strong>


	5. Denial

**Thanks for reading and reviewing! :]**

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><p><strong>CHAPTER FOUR<strong>

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><p><strong>.:Jasper's POV:.<strong>

Trying to deny the terror or anxiety you feel, only exacerbates the emotion. My mate was a testimony to that theory. Had she not been trying so hard to conceal her tremors of fear, I might not have caught on. As it was, those feelings of hers gradually intensified until they became a part of her, while she remained unaware of the transition; she was so busy trying to keep a lid on her bottled up emotions, while being distracted with what was causing them, and that bottle had overflowed without her realizing.

As I stood before her, passively claiming I was on to whatever tricks she'd been playing, I knew she still didn't realize the extent of the damage her premonitions were causing.

And I _knew_ her visions were the source of the problem.

One thing about my wife, she made it her duty to know everything, even knowing the things that had yet to happen. Every decision, every outcome, every nuance of possibility wove through her mind on a regular basis. It was her life, and she relived that life multiple times if she had to. Back and forth; present and future; constantly ahead of reality. Being aware made her content; she hardly appreciated surprises, if she was the one on the receiving end of them, and I've been with her _quite_ a long time, so it was easy for me to spot when she was caught in that unpleasant state of bewilderment.

Catching Alice by surprise was hard, sometimes downright impossible. Today seemed to be an exception. And although Alice wasn't known for her easy compliance, I'd be damned if I didn't make an effort to get to the bottom of her troubles. She meant the world to me; I couldn't just sit back and watch things unfold if I had any impression at all that this was something major.

Alice glanced behind her at the dining room, unfurnished and unfinished; I wondered if she turned just to hide her face for a moment. When she looked back at me, her eyes were on the ceiling, her lips pursed, thoughtful. I waited for her to say something.

"Jasper, can I ask you for a favor?"

I was flooded with relief; she was asking for help. "Of course."

"Help Carlisle and Esme when they arrive; Amanda will need you and Carlisle to unload the heavier furniture. I'll be right back." Alice headed for the back door. "I need to pick something up," she explained without looking at me.

Immediately I went after her, thoroughly confused. I followed her all the way to the garage. Emmett and Rosalie were there; the front end of the Jeep was being propped up by Emmett, as Rose upgraded the tires — my brothers and I had had a little too much fun heading out on our last weekend-long hunting trip. Extreme off-roading didn't cover half of it.

Without a look at either of them, Alice asked Emmett for the same favor she asked me, which irked me some, simply because it wasn't what I had been expecting her to tell me and she knew it.

Before I could protest, she hopped in her Porsche — a car that so closely resembled my wife herself, that it was no surprise she had connected with the one in Italy and persisted to attain her own when she got home — and, with only one look back at me to repeat that she'd be right back, Alice was gone. I stood there a moment afterward, staring out at the drive, hoping that the bright-colored sports car would suddenly re-emerge from around the curve of trees.

It never did.

"So much for getting her to talk," I muttered to my siblings.

Rosalie shrugged, like she couldn't care less, though I sensed her curiosity, and Emmett clapped a hand on my shoulder before making his own exit. Although I read his emotions clearly already, it was another sign of his sympathy for me. It wasn't exactly appreciated. Any reminder at all that I was troubled enough to gain attention: I did not like. The fact it concerned Alice... well, that didn't help matters, either.

"She's been acting strange lately," Rosalie said after a moment of silence, attempting to sound nonchalant. "I mean, strang_er_."

"Where do you think she went?" I wondered, more to myself than to Rose.

"She didn't tell you?"

"Would it matter if she did? She's been lying to me."

I felt Rosalie staring at me, but for once my opinionated sister had nothing to say.

When Carlisle and Esme arrived a short few minutes later, they both looked tired from the activities the day brought them. My poor parents had spent the last six hours working on the dining room and running last minute errands with a very talkative guest, who amazingly seemed to hold an abundant amount of energy that was rare in humans above the age of ten. Amanda's excitement and spirit reminded me that such strong enthusiasm surrounding all creative things always radiated off Alice — until recently.

"Ah, you're Emmett and Jasper, huh?" Amanda said as we were introduced, her fingers twisting together — a nervous habit, I guessed, for she looked between the two of us uncomfortably. I gave her the credit she deserved, or maybe it was stupidity, in another sense; she was trying to put her uneasiness out of her mind and remain cheery. She had no idea how fully she should listen to her instincts about us.

"Yep. That's us. Now why don't we help carry that stuff into the house? It looks like you guys could use a hand or two." Emmett grinned as friendly and non-threatening as possible, pointing to the woman's truck bed, where the furniture was packed in, tied down, and covered up. That shook the fear out of Amanda instantly, excitement quickly finding its place in her again.

"Yes, yes! You two would be perfect!"

Unloading the truck was a painless process for ones such as us, who never turn weary. Emmett did emphasize a few unnecessary grunts for effect, but nobody bothered to pay him much mind. The only killer part was the agonizing pace; Amanda's presence deterred us from moving at vampire speed, an unfortunate price of our charade that I'll never grow to like. I had to admit that it was better than High School, though; at least I had patience.

As we carefully maneuvered the brand new dining table through the front door, Esme made a comment about not tripping and minding our fingers. I almost laughed; Emmett actually did.

"Sure. We'll be careful." He winked at her. She clearly did not take that as a reassurance. Suspicious was what it was. And sure enough, it wasn't even ten seconds later when Emmett suddenly banged his hand against the wall.

"Ow!" he yelled, quickly putting down his end of the table and grabbing the fingers on his left hand. "My fingers! I swear, I think they're broken!"

I stopped mid eye roll when the sound of a pumping heart grew deliciously louder, closer and closer... Amanda was suddenly trying to squeeze past me to see if Emmett was okay. My breath caught in my throat and I held it there in all its fiery sweetness, straining my neck as far from my intended prey as possible, moving my eyes anywhere but on the pulsing veins of the human woman who should have taken her instincts more seriously earlier. I thought of Alice — everything I could about her, to keep my mind distracted, even if recent events made the thought slightly disconcerting. Luckily, Amanda was fast to get by, her concern for Emmett driving her to him.

"Emmett..." Carlisle started to say, cautioning.

Behind me, however, Esme firmed her stance and glared. She wasn't about to provide any warning; but an order.

"Emmett. Cullen." she all but growled.

"Alright, I'm just kidding." Emmett straightened, holding his hands up innocently.

"Smart choice," I heard Edward mutter from upstairs, and I had to agree with him; I wouldn't have wanted to be on Esme's bad side, either.

"Oh goodness," Amanda breathed. Relief swept through her; her heartbeat smoothed, and I relaxed. "I have to say, that was pretty darn convincing. Your mother knew right away, though. Esme, does he do this often?"

"You could say that. I've lost count how many times he's worried me, only in the end to have me want to smack him."

Amanda smiled. "My son does that to me, too. Little brat."

"I guess that's the price one must pay with teenage boys."

"Oh, no. My son is seven."

Now it was Esme's turn to smile.

Amused, I met my brother's eyes and we chuckled at the comparison.

Carlisle laughed once under his breath. "'The rate at which a person can mature is directly proportional to the embarrassment he can tolerate,'" he quoted.

Emmett smirked, picking up the table again.

"Was that a jab against me, _Dad_?" he asked, as we slowly progressed further towards the table's final destination.

"I'm sure you will take it as you wish."

"In that case, it will be a compliment. I mean, when am I ever embarrassed? Not everyone is blessed with such awe-inspiring confidence."

"Your mindset is truly frightening," I remarked.

Coming to the center of the dining room, we set the table down gently. Amanda asked us to move it a few more inches in my direction, and then, with no further theatrics, the table was set. The chairs were next, lastly followed by a few more extra accessories that, from what I could tell, would accent the room perfectly. In the middle of our work, the familiar engine of a Porsche 911 Turbo stole my attention. There was only one owner of a Porsche around here that I knew of, yet I waited until the car pulled onto our drive before I allowed myself to hope it was Alice. Once I knew it was, there was a rush of relief inside me. I was prepared to not let her out of my sight until we talked.

Alice parked up along the side Amanda's truck — the comparison between the two vehicles didn't escape Amanda's notice. Through her shock and slight envy she felt the need to comment on the car Carlisle and Esme let their daughter drive, because apparently she wouldn't have ever trusted herself to drive such a "fancy" sports car, let alone her teenage kid. It was funny how human reactions never failed to be predictable.

What I did fail to understand was the item Alice pulled out of her tiny car from the passenger side.

"Is that a _door_?" Emmett asked in disbelief. He stood, like the rest of us, curious and incredulous, as Alice unloaded her car with the same skill she must have used to load it in the first place.

"Of course it's a door — what else does it look like?" Alice responded. Then, positioned at an awkward angle, she raised her eyebrows. "A little help here, boys?"

Shortly after helping Alice, and carrying the last couple vases safely inside, Alice relieved Carlisle, Emmett and I of our duty, Alice taking the role that had been Carlisle's all day — helping Esme and Amanda complete the newly decorated dining room. I was the only man who opted to stay. I watched the three work, assisting them when Amanda requested a stronger set of arms, not realizing Esme and Alice were, and had always been, more than capable. As I watched, I noted the differences in Alice's conduct. My wife, for one, was not directing the process; envisioning perfect layouts and giving orders that frustrated the other workers until said workers saw the final product and reluctantly agreed it was the right choice, were things Alice looked forward to. She enjoyed the fun of the persuasion, the creativeness, the art of the challenge. When Alice followed orders in silent obedience...it gave us reason to worry. As it was, I wasn't the only one to notice; Esme had tried to bait Alice out of her unnatural shell by asking for her opinion. Her response was just as perplexing as her behavior.

"It doesn't matter," she'd said.

_Wrong answer, my darlin'._

Nonetheless, the finished creation did look beautiful. Esme could not keep herself from away from the fine set of French doors Alice had brought home with her. It was lucky she was able to get them so immediately, and from the local hardware store, no less; someone had ordered them and declined acceptance, and then Alice had seen them and went to pick them up — a bit of monetary bribery aided her, as well. I guessed it was her apology to Esme for not seeing Amanda in time, for the doors were exactly what Esme wanted.

It was 7 o'clock when Amanda finally left. Esme, ever the considerate hostess, had invited her to stay for dinner, and unfortunately Amanda's husband was able to babysit. That had been an interesting meal. At least it was quick. The moment Amanda's truck drove out of sight and hearing range, the family relaxed.

Except for Alice.

Her emotions were rigid, and even when she took a deep breath, it did little to settle them. Before anyone could wander off, she turned to Esme, apologetic.

"I am so sorry I didn't see her coming today," Alice said.

Esme waved it off easily. "It's all right, dear. It was my fault, actually. I shouldn't have told her she was welcome over any time, knowing she had our address. Even if I had no idea she'd take me up on the offer so unexpectedly, it was a rash thing for me to say."

"But I should have caught this," Alice persisted. "It was Carlisle's day off — you were planning to spend it with him."

Esme smiled gently. "There will be other days to spend with him, I'm sure."

"A whole eternity's worth," Carlisle agreed. "You help us a great deal, Alice, but we do not expect you to be perfect — you can't be. Besides, technically we _did_ spend the day together."

"Still, I feel terrible. I shouldn't have been so distracted with...my..." She trailed off, as if realizing she was saying too much. Her eyes flickered around the room, and she was suddenly nervous.

"With your what?" I asked casually.

Her shoulder lifted. "My project."

Her project?

She could be telling the truth, I acknowledged. She could see it that way, as an assignment. But I wasn't so gullible as to believe she wouldn't have her own interpretation of the word. She'd want me to assume it had everything to do with school. I wasn't buying it.

"Excuse us," I said, taking Alice's hand. "But I'd like to speak with my wife — alone."

All the way to our room, Alice's emotions were...agitated. Once there, I didn't hesitate to turn on her.

"Darlin', I need answers now. What has you so worked up?"

"Worked up?" she repeated, seeming puzzled by the wording. "I am hardly worked up, Jazz."

"What has you wary, then?" I'd play her game of words if she wished.

"Nothing that I can think of."

"Are you positive about this?"

"Yep."

The lie slipped easily from her lips. She didn't look at me as she took her shoes off and made herself comfortable on our bed. The fact she could lie to my face with no problem at all bothered me. Maybe it even frightened me. I detested the fierce urge in me to force the words out of her mouth, because I didn't want her to feel constrained to admit to her lies — I wanted her to confess naturally. But she couldn't think I was oblivious to her terror, blind to her emotions. She wasn't a master at controlling them — I was. I knew them better than she could predict the future. Hiding from my sense was impossible, no matter the excuses she made for the emotions she felt. No amount of lying would erase the fact that something was definitely off; and I wasn't backing down until I knew what.

"Did you have a vision about anything recently?" I asked, coming outright with it. "I mean, today. What have you seen today? What about that thing you saw when we were playing _Life_? Is that what you're thinking about?"

She looked away, obviously not wanting to tell me.

"I will take that as a yes," I warned her.

"Jasper!" Sighing harshly, she looked me dead in the eyes, her face steady and trusting. But she held my gaze for too long, too purposely, as if intended to fake truthfulness by not looking away. "I told you it was nothing important," she said.

Oh, I was quite aware of what she'd told me. Everything she'd said the last few days, I had repeated over in my head a good three times, at most, how ever insignificant the words might've seemed. I had been searching for explanations she was refusing to give me. Even now, she held me at a distance.

"Yet you're still having the vision, whatever it is, aren't you?" I insisted. "You haven't fixed it. You've been distracted... Uneasy."

She didn't respond. Her eyes narrowed slightly, as she watched our conversation unfold through her premonitions, searching the best way to answer me, I suspected. That, in itself, was answer enough, as far as I was concerned.

"Are these visions the reason why you've been acting different lately?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked, genuinely confused. "I haven't been different."

"Should we expand on that? You barely said a word at school today. Tonight, when you came back to the house and helped Esme and Amanda, you were still kind of silent, not enthusiastic as you usually are. Plus, whenever anyone talks to you...you sort of clam up. You haven't quite been yourself lately and it's because of these visions you're not telling me about."

Alice didn't like that it wasn't a question. She was quick to try to prove me otherwise.

"I have a lot on my mind, Jasper." She sank onto the bed and folded her arms, her expression pouty. And adorable. But I didn't have the option of giving in to her.

"That is exactly what I mean. We should talk about it. I can help."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Is it that you don't trust me?"

"How can you ask that?" Anger exuded from her.

"Then what?"

Her indignation, for just a fraction of a second, shifted to remorse.

"Nothing. I told you it was nothing, remember?"

"Alice." I clenched my teeth. It wasn't often I got upset with her — in fact, it was near impossible most of the time — but all this secrecy was driving me insane. She was lying to me, and I didn't understand what was keeping her from telling me the truth.

"I need some air," she decided suddenly, hopping up.

"Alice, no." I grabbed her arm. "You can't keep running from me."

"Don't be mad at me, Jasper."

"You're keeping secrets from me. I know you are, Alice, and hiding things and lying about them won't do either of us any good."

"I'm doing this _for_ you."

"So you finally admit that you're hiding things and lying about them?"

Silence ensued. She stared evenly at me, still struggling to keep her emotions on her side. What was the point? She had failed at that task a while ago. She _knew_ this. What was she trying to do?

"I'm doing this for you," she repeated quietly.

I gritted my teeth. "Is that truly how you feel?"

She nodded, looking away again.

I took her hand, then her face with my other hand, forcing her to keep her eyes on me. The gold in her dreary orbs shook; her eyes looked like they could break at any second. Part of me wanted to admonish her for keeping this private from me. The other part wanted to cradle her in my arms, never let go, and tell her how much I cared. Surely she saw this.

"I love you," I told her fervently. "I am concerned. _Please_?"

Begging — it wasn't something I liked to resort to. But for Alice I'd get down on my knees and beg until my forehead rested against her feet if that was what'd take for her to confide in me. Yet, instead of responding to me at all, Alice slid on her flats and fled the room.


	6. Opinion

**CHAPTER FIVE**

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><p><strong>.:Bella's POV:.<strong>

_Something was wrong._

As I sat in the living room with an open book in my lap, alone and undistracted by a certain someone, all I could think about was the argument Alice and Jasper had last night — the one that sent them both storming out of the house. Okay, so perhaps they didn't _storm_ out, but I had never seen either one so upset before, let alone at each other. I always assumed such a display was impossible. The fact Jasper had risen his voice, no matter how slight, must mean he was really worried about Alice. It made me think I should be too.

There had been an unpleasant feel in the air recently, an ominous hunch, and it focused around my petite sister. I didn't know what was going on with her lately, but everyone was aware of it. Funny, random little incidents had slowly built up the suspicion. She wasn't telling us something. I hadn't thought much of it — Alice was always so capable. Thinking about it now, though, it seemed more important than she was letting on. If only I had ignored my desire for Edward yesterday and went after her when she wanted to talk. Maybe I could have gotten some answers, and spared Jasper and Alice their dispute.

"Hey, Bella. Check this out."

Emmett entered the room, interrupting my thoughts. He carried a white box in his hands, the kind you put things in to mail somewhere.

"What is that?"

"It's a box. You know, for someone so observant, you're awfully slow."

I glared at him. "I meant what's in it."

"Yeah, I'll get to the point before you embarrass yourself more," he said, taking a seat in the recliner and placing his package on the coffee table. He flipped open the top and began pulling out books. "These, my dear sister, are no ordinary books."

"Oh? Do continue." He smirked at my sarcasm.

"There are vaults hidden inside their pages."

"Vaults?"

"Yeah."

"As in...vaults?"

Emmett chuckled as he demonstrated. Flipping the first book open, he revealed nothing strange, just pages of printed words, until halfway through the story a rectangular crater appeared right in the middle of the pages, which were now incomplete; mere borders, rather than full pieces of paper. The crater itself was empty, but it was the perfect hiding place.

I picked up another book, curious. "Where and why would you get these?"

"I bought them off some geek website."

"What?" I laughed.

"They sell spy and security things, so..." He shrugged.

Edward joined us, then. I was sure the amusement on his face was directed at me and Emmett.

"I'm sure you've noticed Emmett's been reading and watching shows relating to criminal justice recently," Edward said, as he sat beside me, a small pile of newly completed sheet music in his hands. "This is merely another phase he's going through."

Emmett didn't deny it. "You'll go through one yourself, Bella. In due time. It gets boring as hell studying the same stuff over when nothing has changed since the last time you studied it. I don't know how you do it, Edward. I mean, even Rose has taken a course or two way out of her element just for the excitement."

Edward just shrugged, content with his hobbies. Then he grabbed one of the vault books and peered inside. This one was bigger than the last, more like an encyclopedia. I figured its hidden space could hold twice as much as the one Emmett held.

"What would we even use these for?" Edward wondered.

"Anything. Anything we needed to hide, such as documents. We'd fold them up, place them in these books, and scatter them among Carlisle's immense library. It's a full proof plan, I tell you."

"You do know how often our family's 'documents' change, right?"

"Bro, you are a total mood-killer."

"But his point is valid."

"Let me say that again. Bro, you _and_ your wife are total mood-killers." I rolled my eyes, and Edward grinned. "Do either of you ever think outside the box?"

"When the box isn't there for a reason, then yes," I answered.

"Oh, so we can have metal shutters, but we can't have vault books — is that what your saying?"

A giggle escaped my lips.

"Besides, papers aren't the only things we could hide," Emmett insisted. "It was just an example. And, who knows, they could be fun, too." His imagination seemed to bring a little too much enjoyment to that thought.

"Do I want to know what that look on his face is for?" I asked Edward. He shook his head, staring at his brother with one eyebrow arched and amusement in his eyes.

"That's right, it's better you keep it between us, bro," Emmett said.

"Right. Well, about using these things seriously: who would we even need to hide anything from?"

"How about the Volturi?" I offered, trying to stay positive for Emmett.

"The Volturi would not be hindered by a few books tucked away in a library."

"The Volturi can kiss my—"

"Alice!" I perked up as she appeared by the doorway. "You're back."

My best friend and sister shrugged lightly at me, then peered around the room awkwardly, not saying a word. I glanced at Edward to see if he could decode Alice's strange behavior but, like last night, when I asked him about the confrontation she had with Jasper, he didn't seem to be having any luck. Apparently, her mind had permanently transitioned into a language Edward was unfamiliar with.

"You wanted to ask me something before," I reminded her, hoping to break the uncomfortable silence, one that even Emmett didn't seem to know how to end. Alice was never this quiet. She was hardly ever quiet period.

Bobbing up and down on her heels, my sister's gaze was on the ceiling, like she was singing something in her head. And maybe she was, as a ruse to keep Edward out of her thoughts where the language barrier didn't matter.

Alice didn't respond to me. I caught the questioning look Emmett passed me, and I shook my head once, just as perplexed as he was. When I turned back to Alice, she was suddenly right in front of me, taking my hand and putting her lips to my ear. She whispered, "Put your shield around me, and let's talk."

I barely caught what she said it was so soft, but I obliged to her request and instantly had her protected in my power, as she yanked me toward the stairs, quickly leaving Emmett and Edward behind with their confusion.

"Wait."

Alice made an abrupt halt. It took all I had not to smash into her, balancing on my tiptoes. She turned back to the living room.

"Edward, you should go talk to Jasper," she said, as though she knew something the rest of us didn't, aside from her own secrets.

Edward didn't reply. His expression changed — it flattened, went emotionless, his eyes narrowing the slightest bit. When he spoke I was surprised by the sudden coldness he possessed; it was like he was a different person entirely from just a minute ago.

"Why?" he demanded.

"Tell him I want to talk to him."

If I had still been human, I would've missed the moment it took for Alice to come up with that excuse. As it was, Edward wasn't buying it. He didn't move. He simply continued to stare Alice down, trying to read her. I could literally feel the tension in the air double; then triple.

Whatever Alice wanted to tell me, it didn't take a genius to know it had something to do with whatever she was trying so hard to hide. It seemed she was finally going to confess something. I didn't know what Edward was hearing in her head, but I would think he wouldn't be taking this long to give us our moment of privacy, which was obviously what Alice was going for by sending him to find Jasper.

I pushed my shield down — not off Alice; but off me — focusing with all I had to speak with Edward through my thoughts. I knew the instant he heard them, because his eyes finally broke away from Alice, landing on me, wider than usual.

_Please_, I thought, asking him to go.

Edward looked back at Alice and narrowed his eyes once again, but he slowly stood up, surrendering to my wish.

"I guess I'm going to talk to Jasper," he decided, and then left.

"And I'm going to talk to Bella," Alice said.

"Who am I gonna talk to?" Emmett sulked, but he was left to figure that out on his own, as Alice led me up the stairs.

She dragged me all the way to the third floor, to the room Edward and I shared. There, Alice whipped a sketchbook and a pen off the desk sitting in the corner, and immediately started working on a blank page. I offered to clear the desk for her. There was a laptop on it that could be easily moved and, although standing exerts no energy from us, Alice's position looked like an uncomfortable angle for drawing.

But she didn't answer me. She just resumed scribbling.

I slowly approached her side, trying to get close enough where I could peek over her arm. "What are you working on?"

She still didn't answer me, and I couldn't make out what she was creating on the page. I took a few moments to inspect her face instead. It looked tired — worry lines were etched deep across her forehead, her jaw was tense, and her eyes were serious with a glint of anxiety, accented by dark rings. All in all, Alice's appearance was not her usual one. It made me apprehensive.

"Are you going to tell me what you dragged me up here to tell me?" I asked.

More silence.

"Alice, what's wrong? And don't tell me 'nothing', because I know a lie when I hear one."

She continued to ignore me.

"I'm going to put the shield down," I threatened, with no real intention of doing it. Since becoming a vampire and learning to appear human in public, my skills at lying must have improved, for Alice finally looked up at me. Instead of answering, however, she scribbled one last thing down on her page and flipped it around to face me. The perfect sketching of a man stared back at me. He had sinister, almond-shaped eyes, a cryptic smile, and long, slick dark hair that was pulled back into a low ponytail. Two sharp teeth protruded from his thin lips. He seemed older than thirty, but his face was thin and flawless.

"I'm assuming the fangs were drawn in to represent that he's a vampire," I said.

"Have we seen this man before?" Alice asked me, impatient. It wasn't hard to note the edginess in her voice, just like before. It was worse now that it was unmasked.

"I never have," I answered, thinking that, out of all the vampires in the household to ask, she could have picked one who was around longer.

"Actually," I said, taking a closer look at the picture, "there is something familiar about him."

The hair, the eyes, the jaw... There were certain features about this man that I felt I've seen before. There were parts of him that I recognized, yet couldn't place exactly where I'd seen them or why. And it didn't make sense, because why would this stranger be connected to anything or anybody I'd met?

"You see it also... It's strange, isn't it? It's like we've seen him before, but at the same time, we haven't. Right?"

I looked at Alice. She was staring at me with an eerie, knowing expression. All I could do was nod.

"Who is he?"

Alice shook her head. "I don't know... But I see him."

"Why?" Unless he interacted with our family in some way in the future, there was no reason for Alice to be seeing him in her visions. Whoever he was. And I supposed that was what was plaguing her: this man was a complete stranger. Sort of. We think.

Suddenly, I couldn't blame Alice for her recent frustration.

"No specific reason that I can see so far," Alice answered me slowly. Her eyes went to the floor briefly as she thought. "I think if I could find out who he is, it would help clear up my visions."

"The ones you've been seeing?" _The ones you've been lying about?_

I didn't say the last part out loud, but the look Alice gave me told me that she knew what I was thinking. I waited for her to explain, and when she didn't, I decided to ask her outright.

Before I could get the question out of my mouth, Alice held up her hand.

"Not now, Bella," she whispered. "Edward's coming back and..."

"What are you keeping from us?" I asked quietly, insistent that she confess. "If this is important... Do you need help? Edward told me that you would ask if you did— Alice?"

Her head snapped up suddenly, her eyes wide. She swayed to the right and I grabbed her arm to keep her steady, then sat her down on the bed. She didn't notice. She wasn't in the room anymore; her mind was somewhere else; somewhere in the inconstant future.

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading and reviewing! Glad you enjoy this story, hope you continue to, and I hope to get the next chapter finished soon. *crosses fingers*<strong>


	7. Mistakes

**As always, I thank you for reading and reviewing! :]**

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><p><strong>CHAPTER SIX<strong>

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><p><strong>.:Alice's POV:.<strong>

Laughter resonated around my head; it felt heavy in my ears, sinister, threatening. Pictures flashed across my mind — bared teeth, a flash of light, odd equipment connected with lasers... Some things didn't seem right.

I heard myself whimper, my breath choke up inside my throat. No longer could I seem to inhale. A vampire was tightening his grip around my neck. He growled my name.

_"Alice..." _It rumbled with familiarity.

_"Alice."_

"Alice!"

The image shattered. I was back in Bella's bedroom, two pairs of nervous gold eyes staring at me.

"Can you hear me, Alice? Are you all right?"

"Bella... and Edward," I said, sounding unnecessarily out of breath.

They only nodded, and Bella sat beside me on the bed. "You were whimpering," she said. Only now, when Edward leaned closer to me, nearly hovering, did I notice they were both being cautious.

"Where's Jasper?" was the first thing I thought to ask. Was he aware of my turmoil right now?

"Couldn't find him," Edward answered, his tone flat. I noted _his_ voice was the one at the end of my vision — I wished he hadn't interrupted it, so I would have known the proper voice, because this vision was different. Something significant had changed. I looked at the side of the bed. My drawing was there, and there was suddenly something off about it. It was incorrect. The man in the picture did not match the profile of the one I just saw. It was a different man who killed me now; the partner I suspected the first man had had finally surfaced.

"You had a vision," Edward said when I didn't say anything more.

"I'm quite aware." I sure could not lie about it. "It was just...something."

This time, my brother wasn't accepting the vague explanation. "Who did you see?"

Feeling confident Bella's shield was still around me, I began to shrug it off and say it was nothing, but Edward growled — and he growled menacingly — grabbing my arm.

"Alice, tell me what you saw!"

His other hand slammed down on the nightstand, crushing its legs and sending the surface of it smashing to the ground, startling me and forcing Bella to her feet in shock.

Before I'd even met Edward, I had seen he had a temper. I had envisioned his reactions to my cutting remarks and erratic ideas that I decided to play out without informing him first, and decades later I had grown used to his behavior. But this? This terrified me. This wasn't Edward-like at all. He was frustrated, I was sure. Possibly even angry. But no matter Edward's tendency to lash out, he wasn't the aggressive type. Even when my visions had failed to foresee everything regarding Bella's safety a year ago, he had never been violent. He was moody, sometimes overly so, in which he'd have to vent somewhere, but he wouldn't even come close to hurting me. Not ever.

"Edward?" Bella whispered, just as floored as I was. Slowly, she touched his arm and pulled him back, away from me. He didn't fight it, nor did he say anything more.

Without meeting his eyes, I slid around him. I only took one glance behind me before leaving the room. I didn't stop running until I was well out and beyond the house, the image of Edward's hostile face etched in my head the whole way.

OoOoOoO

Edward found me hours later in the garage. I sat cross-legged atop the hood of my Porsche. I'd been sitting for a long time, simply staring at whatever crossed my path. I must have gazed at the same spot for twenty or thirty minutes, moving neither my body nor my eyes. I had no deep thoughts but merely gazed, distracted, approaching my situation with that meditating concept that seemed to be so popular. To do that, I had to turn off the churning thoughts of everyday, and so I allowed myself to be still, quiet, hoping that observing thoughts that moved like clouds across the sky of my awareness, drifting in and out, would pull me away from my immediate problems and permit my mind to relax, to focus on what really mattered.

I didn't bother moving when Edward came in, already knowing what he wanted. He was here to apologize.

"Alice, about that..." Edward sounded conflicted enough that I opened my eyes to see his face. "It was Bella who actually informed me I should apologize to you, and I was wondering if you could, perhaps, give me a clearer reason as to why, because, to be honest, I am not precisely sure what I..."

I shook my head. "It's okay, Edward. It doesn't matter. Everyone has a right to be angry with me right now."

The first who came to mind were Rosalie and Emmett.

When I first came to the garage, they were here. I had almost walked in on them — it would have been the Edward-Bella make-out incident all over again, but much worse since Rose and Em lived by no sexual etiquette. Luckily they hadn't been at it very long, so I was reluctantly welcomed in.

Even after those two—out of anybody—were kind enough to accept my presence, I had to go and upset them. That was rude of me. It was just that I had been so..._angry_. Yuck. Anger was a terrible emotion, which I knew was only aroused because I was frustrated — another emotion I wasn't so fond of — and I had little experience with either, to be honest, so that wasn't helpful.

But, looking back on it, I knew being emotional was hardly a good excuse for the way I acted.

_"Why are we lying, Alice?"_ Rose had asked me once Esme was sent off my trail. My dear mother had come to the garage seeking out Rosalie and Emmett to ask if they knew where either I or Jasper was; instead, she had found me here. As much as I appreciated her loving devotion to us, I did preferred not to have a conversation with her. I insisted I was fine, and when Esme opened her mouth to argue, Rosalie decided to surprise us all by agreeing with me. Taking my side, she even went so far as to say we were having a sisterly talk, sorting priorities out. Of course Esme hadn't suspected that Rosalie wasn't telling the truth, so she let us be, for now. But as expected, there was a catch to my sister's kindness and the question was asked.

Rosalie wanted the same answers Esme had been trying to get, but she wasn't special. I still had no answer to give, even if by the time I got to the garage, I thought I was over the lying; even if I had thought I was ready, willing to tell them the truth, to tell them everything, to make this (possibly) easier... Even despite it all, it turned out only _thinking_ about doing it was easy.

When I hadn't answered Rose's question immediately, she pushed Emmett out, ignoring his protests, shut the door on him and turned to face me. Her expression was fierce, her voice a deadly whisper that I had to strain to hear.

"What is going on with you? You haven't been acting like yourself lately and we've all noticed. I'm tired of this pretense you're playing. I'm tired of the ignorance the rest of us are showing by just letting you continue on your gloomy way, like nothing about you being gloomy is suspicious. Whatever is wrong, it is something much bigger than you are letting on, isn't it?"

"Rose, I will tell you the same thing I told Jasper—"

"That is crap, Alice, and you know it!" Her voice had risen involuntarily. She looked behind her at the door, quieting again. "Look, you can't hide things from this family. Nobody can — not even you."

I had wanted to tell her that I've hidden quite a few things from them, but I knew it was only because I had ran away until I could fix them. I couldn't do that this time or they would know just how bad it was.

The look that had appeared in my sister's eyes after that told me she was not going to back down until she got concrete answers. Maybe I got lucky with Edward days before, but Rose was as stubborn as they came. It was her nature to never give up, no matter what it was she was after, no matter the size of the problem, no matter if it was any of her business or not. And I disliked greatly that being my sister, being a part of my family, I couldn't deny her the right to know.

Still, my mouth had refused to utter a sound.

"I just lied for you," Rose had reminded me harshly, as if sensing my hesitation. "You owe me."

Panicked — I hated being panicked — I clenched my fists and stood straighter. "I didn't ask you to," was all I could think to say.

She had huffed at my response. "Well, that can be fixed."

I saw what she was going to do and had intercepted her path to the door. "Wait."

"I gave you a chance." She no longer whispered; she no longer cared who could hear us. "You clearly don't trust me, your own sister. You don't trust Esme or Edward. You don't trust Bella. You don't even trust Jasper. And while you think you're doing a great job of pretending — when you are not — this family will wallow in their concern for you. The more you hide from us, the more we hurt. You are hurting this family, Alice."

She was right — I could admit that now. But at the time I wasn't thinking straight. I wanted to believe her words were ridiculous.

"Oh, you've always been so dramatic, Rosalie. The way you twist things that don't even exist into something big — that is what will ultimately hurt this family. That's what already _has_ hurt this family. I might be keeping a secret, I'll give you that, but compared to you I'm not so bad, am I?"

Regret. Not instant, but it would come. I knew it would come the moment I said it. Yet, as I watched Rosalie's face contort into a mixture of hurt, betrayal and fury that I had dared use such a sensitive topic against her, all I felt was satisfaction; she'd leave me alone now.

Turning on her heel, she had raged out of the garage, knocking the door from one of its hinges in the process. She didn't look back, not even to acknowledge Emmett was still standing there, outside. He glanced back at me briefly with disappointed eyes.

"She was only worried about you," he had said, quietly, defensively, and then as I had watched him chase after his wife, the regret descended.

Everyone knew Rosalie was never the most tactful when it came to confessing how she felt. When it came to the truth, she didn't sugar-coat things. Rose was so straightforward and heard-headed, she could start an argument in an empty house. Unlike Rosalie, I always had a fine ability to say what I meant, while getting what I wanted without gaining an enemy. A pleasant trait that I did so cherish... until now, when I had unmistakably fallen into that same fault of Rosalie's. Except I was worse, because where Rosalie actually did speak the truth, I lied.

What was wrong with me? Out of anyone in this family, I should have caught my words before I spoke them.

Yet I fear every time we get close to talking about something that mattered, I'll panic and say nothing was wrong, as seemed to be my way. Then afterward, I wouldn't know whether to applaud for catching myself or hit myself in the head with a flaming crowbar.

Edward leaned toward me, his face pulling me back to the present. "Look, Alice. Whatever has been going on, I'm your friend. Your brother. You always talk to me."

I always talked to Jasper, too.

Not lately.

"Don't you trust me?"

My teeth gritted; this was my conversation with Jasper all over again.

"You know that's not fair."

"I'm a mind-reader. Fair doesn't interest me." Fine. I'd give him that one.

"Edward, I trust you. Believe me, I do." _And of course Jasper. And everybody else. Okay? I just... None of you need this._

"Need what?"

"_This_. This thing I'm dealing with..." I cut off there, sighing sharply, feeling the weight of my actions growing heavier. The dilemma I faced shouldn't be so difficult. I should want their help. I should. But then I'd have to risk worrying them when their lives have barely begun to settle into contentment.

So what was worse? Jasper and the family believing I was keeping secrets from them, or them believing I would be dead in a matter of days? Whatever hurt they were feeling now must be tolerable in comparison to what it could be. They just didn't realize it. They would understand...if they...did...

"Oh!"_ Edward!_

My brother's mouth hung open, his eyes frozen wide. My thoughts weren't concealed. He heard everything.

_Edward, don't tell anybody!_ I pleaded desperately, hopping off the car, landing in front of him, on my tiptoes so I'd be closer to his eye level. "Promise me."

I could not believe I fell right into the trap he laid out for me, knowing I was distracted. Why did I let myself be so vulnerable to that?

"You can't be serious, Alice. This is what you've been hiding? Why... How... Who?"

_Exactly what I've been wondering._

"Alice, you promised you would go to somebody if you needed help."

"But I didn't think-"

"You _didn't_ think. What were you planning to do? Keep us oblivious until you disappear-"

"_I know_ what you're going to say. I know. Just please, Edward, don't tell anybody. Let me do it. Tonight." As I said it, I saw it happen. "Tonight, I will call a family meeting and I will confess, but please don't tell them yet."

His glare seemed to be assessing the honesty of my words. I showed him the vision of it happening again, but he didn't relax.

"Would it be fair to ask if you trusted me?"

"No."

That stung.

"Can you hold it against me?" he challenged.

Of course I couldn't.

Edward was angry with me again, with good reason. At least he wasn't slamming things around. Whatever was wrong with Edward before, he seemed to be fine now, or at least normal.

"No..." Edward cocked his head slightly to the side. He seemed confused, even if what I thought was obvious.

"What do you mean by obvious?" he questioned, appearing more upset now. "Last I checked, everything in my room was in perfect condition. Why would I...?" His brow furrowed and he pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is just like what Bella was telling me, but..."

What in the world was Edward muttering about?

"I can't picture it," he whispered suddenly. "I can't remember."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked. He was starting to get weird on me. _You have a perfect memory, Edward. This is why you came to apologize. Don't play with me._

"I'm not. Alice... Alice, I do not know what you or Bella are talking about. That's what I was trying to say before. Are you sure I was there?"

_Of course I'm sure!_

We stared at each other for a moment, and I saw that he was being completely serious. He had no recollection of the event. Bella had to prod him to find me, but he had no idea why.

Okay? I didn't know what that was about, but I had enough mysteries on my plate and I didn't need this. What I needed was time to foresee how I was going to gently inform everybody of my deadline tonight. Edward sighed.

"Why wait for tonight?" he asked suddenly. The question confused me, until he elaborated. "Tell them now. There is not point in waiting."

_Carlisle has already left for the hospital._ _If I'm going to do this I want everyone here, especially him__._

"If?"

I couldn't believe he actually evoked an eye-roll from me. "Oh please. You know what I mean." _Now shoo, so I can think._ _Go get ready for school or_ _something. And don't you dare say a peep!_

"What about you?"

_I need to stay home _sick_ today._

"Are you sure? Will you be safe alone?"

"Esme's here, you know? And..." I looked at the ground. _I have time, Edward..._

He saw what I meant, then nodded.

The grim date I so dreaded coursed through my conscience constantly; and now it would course through his.

"At least let Jasper stay with-"

"No!"

My sharp refusal must have rubbed Edward the wrong way. His glare was back.

"Do you have any idea what Jasper's been going through? He wants to be with you." He softened his tone when he saw that I was more aware than I desired. "I know you look out for him, but he should be by your side right now."

"Not yet." I said it more as a plea.

Really, now that I have decided to include him in this once and for all, I would love nothing more than to be with him right now. To tell him how sorry I was. To keep him close, because who knows how long I have to be with him. But I just needed one more day. _Just one more day, Edward._

Edward thought for a second, then nodded. He slowly turned his back on me, but before exiting, he said, "You are going to have forever with him, Alice." Then he was gone.

My visions disagreed with him, but I let the comfort sink in anyway. _Forever with Jasper._ How long really was forever?

At the back of our extensive garage hung a small clock. According to its hands, Edward and the others really should be getting ready for school right about now. When they were finished, they would make their way here. I didn't want to be here for that, so I ran a wide arch around the perimeter of the house, at human pace, taking my sweet time, until I heard the Volvo speeding away.

The house was empty when I got there, aside from Esme, who was humming tunelessly in Carlisle's study. The sound was pretty, like crystal wind chimes. It was even sort of uplifting. Music of a hopeful mind. I let it seep into my head as I pulled out my laptop from my school bag and made myself comfortable on the couch. I was grateful Esme wasn't planning to come check up on me. Edward apparently told her I would be ready to speak up tonight, and she was going to be patient.

This was not how it was supposed to go. This admittance was far worse now that I also had to apologize for deceiving them. But time was of the utmost essence now. I couldn't keep this fight up without being detected, and I couldn't keep hurting Jasper or my family like I had been. They wouldn't be able to help me — I had already seen that their help would be no good, that the final vision never faltered, and so I had refrained from involving them at all — but still I refused to continue to say it was 'nothing'. I didn't want another repeat of my recent arguments with the people I loved.

Once my computer started up, I typed in 'machine with lasers' in the internet's search engine and hit 'Enter'.

The strange equipment from my most recent vision had been bugging me. I'd never seen anything like it before, but I had seen it in the room with that man — the first man, not the new man. Whoever these vampires were, they had me totally baffled as to how they connected to each other. Those bastards.

I scrolled down the page, scanning the results for something that sounded remotely probable. Mostly lasers were connected to machines that engraved on material such as metal, or machines that worked to cut through solid objects. Nothing seemed right at first, and then, in bold blue letters, was something about lumber. Below it was a short description of the machine used to assist cutting wood, and two things clicked together at once.

The laser-guided machine in my vision was used to cut wood; the _dust_ I had seen was _saw_dust. The wide, rectangular room with slim windows lining the walls near the ceiling, and the strange machinery sitting about... It was a lumber mill. That's where the ominous men were either waiting for me, or planning to take me. I assumed the former, considering vampires were rarely kidnapped.

The location itself didn't seem all that significant regarding the 'Why?' aspect of the situation — in fact, it was probably random we'd end up there — but now, perhaps, I could find some sort of clue I was missing. Refining my search, I scoured the internet for any wood mills close to our home. There were three, and none were particularly close. Although, distance hardly mattered to an immortal. I could get to the closest one in less than an hour at my driving speed. The other two were spread far apart, in opposite directions. They would take _much_ longer to get to, even for me.

Luckily, I had all day.

After studying the map of each location, I informed Esme I was going out. She was downstairs in an instant.

"Would you like company?" Her offer was innocent; she wasn't asking to go with me just to have an opportunity to pry. Still, I needed to do this alone. She saw my resolve before I could answer out loud. "It's alright, then. I'll see you tonight?"

"Yes. I promise."

As I walked passed her, she touched my arm.

"Alice?" I looked up. "Be careful."

Smiling, I assured her I would, then I was gone.

As I predicted before even envisioning it, I arrived at the first mill in record time. Forty-five minutes, to be exact. I parked a distance from the entrance, my car hidden, as I discreetly ran through the forest the rest of the way, staying out of human sight. The mill was busy; it was a work day, so I knew I wouldn't be able to get inside. But I didn't have to. I knew instantly it wasn't the one in my vision. It was too big, too modern.

The second wood mill was so far north it took me three hours to get there. It ended up being in a more rural area, more isolated from the nearest town. Trees became more prominent, whereas pavement roads vanished completely. Thanks to last night's rainfall, I had to pull over and make my own parking space, as the road became too muddy for my precious vehicle. Then, looking around, I heard Esme's words of caution again.

_Be careful._

I felt like there was this tugging inside me, like an invisible rope was attached to my gut and someone was pulling at it from the other end. Or maybe it was just me being paranoid. Or maybe instead of relying so heavily on my visions, I should trust my instincts more, because the more I tried to ignore the feeling I had, the tighter the knot in my stomach became. I just could not shake it — the gnawing incessant feeling that something horrible could happen.

If this truly was the place from my vision, how did I know it would only be filled with humans? Thoughts of encountering the deadly strangers earlier than expected brought about another wave of caution. I was instantly alert, searching the future with an odd kind of desperation. It reminded me of my search to find a way to save my family from the Volturi. My mind was just as frantic then, too. And even when I saw nothing out of the ordinary in my immediate future, I didn't relax. The chance of someone's mind changing in a nano-second, and the future altering drastically because of it, was too high a probability.

I started to second guess my decision to come here, but I refused to back down now. I was already here, and even if something felt off, I was going to carry out my task. I would just be quick about it.

Edging closer to the quiet wood mill, I noted there was only one person inside it. Whoever it was, they were human, and I heard the distinct sound of a pen scratching against paper.

Unlike the last place, this one had no security cameras. Hesitating would be pointless, so I didn't even think much about staying put; I entered the grounds and slithered my way to the faded-green doors on the south wall of the building. The whole place was in dire need of a paint job. I didn't bother reaching for the door handle — it would be locked. Instead, I climbed up the planks of wood that were piled high against the wall, and then peeked through the window once I reached the top.

The perspective was different. The room I was looking at might have matched my vision if I was on the other side of the room facing the other direction, _and_ if that laser-machine was there, which it wasn't. There was actually only one machine in the room, and it was older than anything I had seen in my visions.

Sighing, I headed back the way I came, wondering if perhaps the mill I was looking for was in a different state entirely.

I wished the wind would catch all my troubles and sweep them away. I waited for it to happen, but the breeze simply brushed right over me. It was probably a cold breeze, too. I couldn't be sure. It felt the same as always; brisk and oddly refreshing as it swept through my hair, and as I reached the Porsche, sitting and leaning over to rest my head against the steering wheel, I imagined the sun on my skin feeling warm and comforting. If only Jasper was here. I would have turned to him, let him take me in his arms and assure me it was okay, even if I wouldn't necessarily agree...

My thoughts trailed off, back-tracking...

Bolting upright so fast that my vision blurred, I gaped, horrified, at the sunlight pouring mercilessly from the wide part in the clouds. I shoved my hand in my purse and dug into the corner where I knew my cell phone was hiding. It was pointless, it was too late to warn anybody, but I couldn't stop. I hoped with everything I had that Jasper, my siblings, and even Carlisle would not be caught in the sunlight I had miserably, unforgivably failed to see coming.


	8. Encounter

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

* * *

><p><strong>.:Jasper's POV:.<strong>

"What's with the weather today?" Bella's head was tilted back as she inspected the sky. She, Edward, Emmett, Rose and I were heading out to the cafeteria building for lunch. I followed Bella's gaze. The rain had stopped and the clouds were brighter. "It was pouring this morning. Now look at it."

Emmett shrugged. "Who cares?"

"The humans," Bella answered indignantly. Edward chuckled.

One thing that changed about Bella ever since we left Forks: she's been concerned about how our human acquaintances might feel in certain situations. I guessed it was her way to hold onto her human life, by staying emotionally connected with those we once were but now only pretended to be.

"The temperature's been dropping and rising inconsistently. You know, when I was human I'm sure I hated throwing my jacket on and off, on and off... So why can't it just stay up?"

"Yes, I'm sure Edward's heard _that_ before," Rosalie retorted. She and Emmett shared smirks.

Edward shook his head, rolling his eyes, while Bella glowered at them. She must be kicking herself for not being more clear on the stakes of the bet she made with Emmett last year; winning him at arm wrestling guaranteed there would be no innuendos out of his mouth until he could beat her, but she had mentioned nothing about Rosalie, who only too eagerly agreed to be Emmett's loophole.

"Can't we just go one day without these jokes?" my newest sister grumbled to no one in particular, as she pulled out a compact mirror from her bag to check the contacts that turned her eyes brown.

"I wouldn't count on it," I easily concluded.

As a sharp wind blew, the sky captured my attention again. The local News promised thunderstorms today and tomorrow, and although the clouds above our heads were dark earlier, they seemed to have thinned quite a bit. Too much, if I was being more observant. It was disquieting, being so light outside, and for some reason I felt it was not just the average 'calm before the storm' that had descended.

_Do you think...?_

Edward grew curious, and from the corner of my eyes I saw him look at me, then the sky. He stopped walking.

"Hey, Edward? What's wrong?" Bella asked.

I knew by his growing caution that Edward suspected the same thing I did. I glanced down at the exposed flesh of my hand; our skin clearly wasn't glowing enough to cause any attention yet, but it was far too bright outside to—

Emmett suddenly shuffled backwards. "Oh, _shit_."

I looked up, just in time to see the sun beginning its push past the dark clouds.

My eyes widened. Fear consumed me, motivated me as I barreled out of the school courtyard with my siblings right behind me, heading for the closest building. My legs pumped furiously, my body and mind focused on moving as quickly as possible without being _too_ fast. Knocking people over in my haste, I yelled out a string of apologies without slowing down. Time wasn't on our side, and manners would have to wait.

Doors shuttered on their hinges as we barged through them, ending up in the science building. It was empty, as everyone was going to lunch. Although we were already safe from the sunlight, we had to get out of the hallway in case a someone came through and wondered what we were doing here; the science building was never really occupied during lunch hour.

"In here." Edward motioned toward the farthest door on the left: the lab room. The science lab was closed all week. Its guaranteed privacy made it the perfect place for us now. We filed inside hastily, finally able to call ourselves safe. For now. And there was one second of still silence among us before the significance of what had just taken place was made vocal.

"Do you know how close that was?" Rosalie erupted. "I cannot believe we managed to make it inside!"

"Did anybody see us?" Bella asked quietly, nervous.

"Edward, we need some reassurance here, bro. Right now."

"I didn't catch anything, Em. At least not right away." Edward hovered close to the wall, trying to hear the the thoughts of those outside, searching for any evidence at all that our charade was up in this town. Even if it wasn't, we were dangerously close to exposure.

"What in the hell happened to Alice?" Rosalie was looking at me as she said it. Emmett and Bella copied her gaze.

I hesitated. "We can't pin all the blame on Alice." My voice almost shook with all the stress intensifying the atmosphere.

"We can pin _most_ of it. She's supposed to watch out for this type of thing. In all the fifty years that the two of you have been with us, she's never failed to warn us, Jazz. We rely on her, and all of a sudden she just — what? — misses it? Forgets to check?"

Rosalie's anger was beginning to seep through my skin, burying the previous apprehension. I held back any urge to lash out at her or the others, who I knew agreed with her. Heck, maybe I agreed with her, too.

Sometimes I felt my family relied on Alice for too much. Sometimes I even felt that I was guilty of the same. Despite my feelings, however, Alice never minded. She's been keeping a foreseeing eye on weather conditions since she was born into this life, and she considered it her duty to catch the sun's appearance. Or unexpected human visitors...

The only thing worse than Alice slipping up, was Alice slipping twice.

"Ssh!" Edward held his finger up to quiet us. He cocked his head toward the door.

There was a low screech, followed by an echoing bang that indicated the metal doors at the end of the hallway. Two people had entered, as their footsteps would indicate, and by the sound of their voices, they were not students. I recognized the male voice as Mr. Carbonell — my eccentric science teacher. He was debating student control tactics with a fellow teacher. How to keep kids entertained enough to pay attention? The best route to help them learn all they can? How to keep them tamed and obedient? I knew my science class; Carbonell's confidence in his strategy was a show. I figured he wanted to impress his female co-worker. Not that it mattered much to me. I was simply waiting for any sign they were headed our direction.

_"How about we discuss this more over lunch?"_

_"Great,"_ the woman happily accepted the offer. _"I'll meet you in the lounge. I just have to grab the lab sheets for next week."_

_"Sure thing."_

The softer footsteps turned abruptly. I waited until they were right outside the door to the lab before I guessed their destination. The doorknob squealed as it was turned. A rush of wind grazed passed me that I assumed my siblings had caused as they rushed to hide, just as I did. The closest thing to me was one of the four sets of floor-to-ceiling cabinets in the room — I jumped inside. The thin wood door didn't shut all the way, allowing me to still see into the room. I hoped that if I stayed far enough back in the shadows, the woman wouldn't be able to notice my presence, as weak as her human eyes were limited to be. My mind went over many excuses I could use if I was caught, but it would be much simpler for all of us if we weren't discovered.

I heard the door open and the woman enter the lab. She came into my line of sight by the whiteboard. When she reached the teacher's desk, a strained tension rippled through my body. It took me a moment to gain control of it, as I recognized what it was; one of my family was hidden beneath that desk.

Lucky for whoever it was, the lab sheets the woman was looking for were apparently stacked perfectly in the tray. She grabbed as many as she thought she'd need, and that was that. There was a slow wave of relief as the woman headed for the door.

Until the thuds of her feet abruptly stopped. It was quiet for a moment. I couldn't see what she was doing, for she had walked out of my line of sight. Another second went by before she was moving again. This time she was coming my way. It was quite unbelievable. Did she really decide she needed something in _this_ cabinet? I pleaded that it was one of the other three she was headed for.

I held my breath as the woman drew closer to where I was hiding. Stopping suddenly, her eyes searched the lab, seeming to find nothing.

Of course she didn't find what she was looking for, because she had no idea what her gut was aiming to tell her. Perhaps I could assist it. That unexplained fear of hers mixed with the stressful hue of mine... I could weave her emotions at my will.

So I would.

Closing my eyes with an almost-silent, shallow breath, I backed deeper into the shadows until my back hit the painted wood of the closet, as if I was edging away from the something frightening. I heightened that fright. I had to be afraid. When I was afraid, everyone was afraid. I let my eyes open, and I saw that the woman had her hand curved around the handle of my cabinet, but she was frozen. She glanced around nervously, her eyes rounder than before, as if she felt a sense of foreboding, like something was watching her.

I was watching her.

She should be afraid.

Her hand fell from the handle. She stumbled a couple steps back, still peering around, nearly losing her grip on her lab sheets, and then made a hasty exit from the room. I waited until she ran from the science building completely before I allowed for a calmer air. Quietly, I eased out of the panic and the cabinet.

Emmett was the second to reappear. He popped out from behind the back counter, his muscles coiled and tensed.

"What the hell was that, bro? I was losing my mind over here!"

"It's okay, Bella," Edward was muttering, trying to stifle his amusement, as he helped Bella out of the cabinet they'd squeezed into. She wasn't shaking, but she might as well have been by the expression on her face. Then Edward looked at me. "You couldn't have channeled anything less...terrifying?"

Instantly, I was trying not to laugh myself. I hadn't considered how my emotions would affect any of _them_.

"Clearly," Edward said. "We're lucky Rose didn't crash through the window to escape — that would have blown our cover considerably."

"Babe, you were gonna run away?" Emmett guffawed.

Rose was casually straightening her blouse. When our attention went to her, she lifted her chin up and crossed her arms over her chest.

"It was instinctual," she defended. "Don't you ever do that again without warning, Jasper. It's a good thing I was _determined_ to stay put."

"Or she would have been halfway home by now," Edward added dryly, only slightly amused.

"Sorry." I chuckled once more, before the seriousness of the situation came to the forefront of my mind again. "I didn't know what else to do. She could be back, though."

Edward didn't agree. "No. She's headed for the teacher's lounge as fast as possible. I can guarantee she won't be coming in here for a while, which is even better now that the sun has brightened this room up, too. It would figure the one room that is our safest bet is also the room with no blinds on the windows."

I wasn't the only one who sighed in irritation at that realization.

"Now what are we supposed to do?" Bella wondered.

"We wait it out," Emmett guessed.

"We call Alice," Rose demanded.

Just then, my cell phone vibrated.

"Oh!" Rosalie clapped her hands together, feigning perkiness. "Perfect timing. That's new for her these days."

I scowled at her, while Edward started to mumble, "You don't know..." before trailing off into silence. It was a reminder that Edward knew Alice's secret; and I did not. _I_ had to be _patient_. Edward refused to tell me what he knew, for my dear wife had told him in confidence. I hated Edward for knowing and respected him for not breaking Alice's trust at the same time.

The phone was on the second ring when I flipped it open.

"Alice," I greeted in a low, expectant voice. Her answering apology was just as I imagined it would be.

_"Oh God, Jazz, you have no idea how sorry I am! There is no excuse for me. I should have seen this. I really, really messed up. You don't even have to forgive me. But I can tell you that in close to an hour you guys can get out of there. As soon as the clouds return, go straight home, okay? I am so sorry... Jazz? Why aren't you interrupting me yet?"_

I smiled a little, but all I said was, "Thank you for the advice. I'll inform the others."

There was a pause on the other line, while Alice expertly gathered what I was implying by not demanding things I would normally.

"Tonight, then?" she wondered.

"Yes. I want everything."

"I love you." _Why_ did she sound like she was afraid I wouldn't say it back? Contrary to recent events, she _was_ a psychic, and she knew me better than that.

"I will always love you, Alice."

There was a soft sigh from her, a quiet 'I know', and then the phone clicked off. Sometimes I wished I was the psychic one. Would I be as cryptic about my life if I knew the best and worst outcomes of the future?

"You think you're not cryptic enough to people just the way you are?"

I snapped the phone shut and turned my head in Edward's direction.

Mind-reading. That was another ability. If I had it, maybe Alice would have had no choice but to confide in me. I could have solved the mystery surrounding her by now. There would be no secrets.

"Believe me, there will always be something hidden, and taking it without permission is really not the route you want."

Easy for him to say; he knows what her damn secret is; he knows what troubling affair is upsetting my wife so much.

"In any other circumstance, you know you would have been the first she told."

"Exactly."

"Jazz, you're on the edge here, so look at it this way: would you rather find out anything worth knowing about her by rummaging through her head and having her feel forced to tell you everything, reluctant through the whole explanation, not truly feeling that you're trustworthy? Or would you want her to trust you enough to come to you on her own? A mind-reader gains no credence from those whose thoughts they steal."

_Alright. Good point._

But it did little to make me feel any ounce of better about the situation.

Edward put a hand on my shoulder and looked me straight in the eye, enveloped in a heavy seriousness.

"If I thought she was in any danger today, I would not have agreed to wait. You know I wouldn't let anything happen to Alice. If it came down to it, I'd put my existence on the line for her. She's my sister. And you are my brother."

All empathetic abilities aside, I felt how strong the sincerity rung in his words. He spoke with the honesty any of us would hold when it came to defending our family. But he had to understand it wasn't so easy being in my position. No matter the length of time Alice took to tell me, long or short, worrying was inevitable.

For now, I'd let my brother ease my anxiety on it, at least until we got out of this lab room we were temporarily imprisoned in.

OoOoOoO

Turns out an hour was a lot longer when lunch was over and students and teachers were bustling through the hallway. I tried to keep an ear open for straying footsteps that roamed too close to the lab room door, the sound that would alert us, but it was not the easiest of tasks. I pictured Edward trying to individualize every thought, as well as footstep, and cringed. He was right — reading thoughts was overrated. And even when the bell rang, indicating fifth hour had officially begun, there was always that dreaded chance someone would need to come in this room for some purpose — some purpose other than to make things more difficult for a group of vampires.

Eventually, though, the hour mark came around and, as Alice promised, the sun ducked back behind its blanket of gray. There was no hesitation as we made our escape; back to the car we dashed, and then drove at an illegally high speed to get home.

For vampires, it was sometimes hard to find a place where you felt safe. But right now, home definitely felt more comforting than anything, and a great weight was lifted out of everyone's emotional mind that moment we walked in that front door.

Esme was waiting for us, having contacted us the moment she saw that sunlight, just as Alice had. She also had called Carlisle...and Alice.

Any comfort I felt a mere millisecond ago was gone. So Alice hadn't been home, and she still isn't even with the sunlight fiasco. She was out wandering again!

_Tonight,_ I reminded myself. She'll come home later, and I _will_ get answers this time.

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><p><strong>Thank you for the reviews. They are always appreciated. :]<strong>

**And if you really _must_ know, for sanity's sake... In the next chapter Alice will definitely be telling Jasper and the others what's happening.**

**Maybe.**


	9. Warning

**Shorter chapter, but don't worry — next chapter will be a lot longer.**

**Thank you for the reviews. :]**

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><p><strong>CHAPTER EIGHT<strong>

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><p><strong>.:Alice's POV:.<strong>

I knew I had picked up that it was supposed to be cloudy all week, with a high percent chance of rain by Thursday, and thunderstorms through the weekend. I heard it, I remembered, but apparently the universe decided it wanted to throw me a curveball when I was already struggling with two strikes on my name. And sure enough, after two and half hours of scattered sunlight — with far more sun than shade — the predicted thunderstorm decided to arrive, drenching the earth with its water. A completely unpredictable day that I should have foreseen.

A bell clanged as a customer walked through the entrance of the convenience store I was aimlessly wandering through. I graced him with a polite smile as he took a second glance at me, then I ducked down another aisle.

After risking a trip to the third wood mill on my list of locations that could very well be the place of my death, I knew I had to stop stretching my chances with the sunlight. I had instructed the rest of the family to head home as soon as they could and I was to do the same, but of course I did not. I just wanted to finish what I had set out to do today, and I did. The fact I found nothing at all helpful was another story. It was completely ridiculous, actually! So I ended up here, in this isolated mini-mart, with every intention of buying a pair of gloves, maybe a hat and sunglasses, because I had seen a lengthy last-minute appearance by the sun on the main highway.

My goal was thwarted when I saw the selection. Did people actually wear those designs, those colors? I shuddered, refusing to resort to purchasing anything so appalling to good taste; instead, I decided to wait for the last rays of sunlight to pass before making my way home. And then, even as the rain finally began, I spent an extra few minutes in the store, stalling. There was nothing I needed here anymore, much less wanted, but I saw that, now that the storm had hit, I wouldn't make it all the way home once I started driving. One of the side streets I had to take would flood. There was no alternate route. My poor Porsche would stall.

In the snack aisle, I picked up an orange bag with strange looking treats that were seemingly inside. Humans actually consumed this stuff? I didn't remember ever seeing Bella eating these...whatever they were. I put the bag back, shaking my head in disgust.

"Can I help you, Miss?"

The store clerk was suddenly blocking my path, curiosity etched all over his face. He'd been watching me for a while now. Hmm, I didn't suppose me wandering the aisles forty to fifty times was suspicious?

"Oh no, I'm just looking," I replied kindly, picking up another strange looking bag of chips, pretending to find slight interest in it.

"For_ forty-five minutes_?"

My eyes moved to his in an instant. Too fast, for his body instinctively stiffened and his pulse deliciously increased.

"I mean... Well... Er..."

I flashed him a brilliant smile. He faltered further, my appearance enchanting to him. Silly human man. Was shopping not supposed to be at least an hour-long process? Of course, he should feel flattered I would spend more than five minutes in this random place with horrid selection and nasty human unedibles. I would now and forever dub this the_ inconvenient_ store.

"Well, just take your time...uh... If you'd like." The clerk bowed his head and sped back to his counter.

After stuffing the bag of chips I held back in its place, I grabbed a handful of lollipops — which Nessie loved — and brought them to the clerk, just to appease him, and then I left after the purchase.

As much as I wanted to avoid the flooding, it was best I got on my way to avoid further suspicion. I thought about stashing my Porsche somewhere until the storm passed, but I saw it would last the weekend, and keeping my "flashy" vehicle in a parking anywhere around here would bring more unwanted attention. I guessed I was going to have to make the sacrifice. At least Rosalie could fix any damage done.

Not that I expected her to do me any favors after all I put her through today.

Starting the fateful drive home, my mind kept occupied with thoughts of what I was to tell my family tonight. The lack of hope that I will be alive by the end of April was alarming, and the lack of discoveries I've made to thwart my murder was not, by any means, encouraging. Determining the best way to explain to my family the circumstances was far from easy, but it was crucial; at least, I thought so. I had been trying so hard to keep them oblivious, to keep them from being haunted by this future, but it wasn't right to hide it anymore. I might not have wanted their help, simply because I didn't want to get them involved in case something were to change and they were to get hurt, but I sure needed their help more than ever. And I guessed that was what a family was there for.

As I thought, my own mind interrupted me. I caught a picture of me stuck in my car again, murky rain-water surrounding us, my Porsche's engine stuttering out, and I realized I was close to that point now. Indeed the time had arrived, and I made the turn onto the street. I was already driving slow, pushing through the flowing street-turned-river; sports cars and high water are not friends. I petted the dashboard to comfort my baby. If only I could pick it up and run it home, but this area was populated; I noted the row of houses, separated a good distance from each other, but still close enough to be considered an urban neighborhood.

Then I spotted a house I recognized. It sat alone at the end of the quiet street and I could recall it with perfect clarity — it was in the background of my vision. When I reached it, it would be the end of my precious Porsche until I begged Rose enough to fix it... If I survived long enough, anyway.

It wasn't exactly easy thinking like that. Constantly wondering what I would be able to achieve before I was no longer around to try for it. So many little things that I took for granted all these years - like bickering with my sisters over cars and clothes and then winning. I wouldn't have ever given moments like that a second thought if it wasn't for my deadline. A deadline that was snaking its way closer by the second. I was losing time, and perhaps it was taking my hope along with it. I had to be strong, determined — I had to be me. But some moments made me so exhausted_._

Coasting at a snail's pace, I glided to the curb and the car died.

Hands still on the wheel, I leaned back in my seat, sighing, though neither action could realistically satisfy my body.

The distinct sound of clashing leaves captured my attention. I peered at the house on the hill again. It was decent, pretty almost, though I could suggest a few upgrades. There was a tree sprouting in the lawn; sure the house was surrounded by a forest, but this tree stood out, alone in the otherwise empty yard. Wind rustled its branches, and there was a creaking sound coming somewhere behind the house, almost like a screen door swinging open and closed, mixed with other sounds barely loud enough to be heard through the heavy rain.

Staring at the house's dark windows and swaying shutters, I felt something strange creeping up my spine. I felt that that house was watching me — waiting to see who this intruder was on its property and what she'd do now.

Or maybe it wasn't the house at all, but my instinct warning me someone was watching, listening, just as I listened?

_Or maybe_ I was working myself up over nothing. Honestly!

Aggravated, I returned my gaze to the gloomy sky.

Whoever lived in that house wasn't even home; the place was empty.

A series of cracking twigs made me freeze, except for my eyes, which darted straight back to the house. Not the house, I noted, as my breath caught in my throat when I inhaled the scent of an unfamiliar creature less than twenty feet away. No, not the house — the tree in the yard. Something — some_one_ — was suddenly behind it. My mind kept screaming vampire, but the smell was off.

Wasn't it?

I wasn't sure.

How was I not...

My thoughts cut off, as I caught movement. At first it looked the part of a shadow as it edged its way out from its hiding place and into view, but then it took the form of a woman. I could see her clearly. She was young, pretty, with short hennaed hair, a round face, and intelligent eyes that...looked familiar. This woman had to be a vampire, and yet she wasn't.

It seemed impossible for me to be right, but after a second take I recognized exactly what she was.

A hybrid.

Immortal _and_ human; half and half.

Confusion erupted, only to be pushed aside by the young woman's high voice ringing out through the shroud of rain like a flash of lightning.

"Alice. Alice Cullen..." She knew me. "He's coming after you. Soon."

I did not care if it was realistically absurd for a vampire — my body chilled over, colder. The steering wheel suddenly disappeared from my grasp, my hands now fists, though I hadn't moved them; crushed pieces of plastic, leather and metal fell into my lap, but I hardly noticed.

The half-breed locked her eyes on mine with a fiery dedication. She took two steps forward, her hand reaching out for me.

"Are you listening to me? He wants—"

Her head snapped behind her.

"Maysun..." she whispered, all traces of her certainty gone. She looked back and forth between me and whoever was coming — Maysun? I didn't understand. I couldn't see.

"Alice Cullen, don't trust him," she said finally, turning and fleeing. She gave me one last frantic warning over her shoulder. "Don't trust your-" Thunder cut off the ending, and in the next moment she was gone.

As I listened to her retreat, I found myself no longer in the shelter of the car. I was running. No longer shielded from the rain, I was immediately soaked to the bone, my clothes sagging and clinging, but I ignored it. I ran as fast as I could. All I clearly registered was that someone dangerous was coming and I had to get out of here, so that was what I did.

I stopped only when I was home, reaching the front door, glancing behind me frantically, searching the future to make sure whoever I was running from hadn't followed me, but, _of course_, I couldn't see a thing! What if I led her here? My family... Oh crap... I clenched my eyes and, half a second later, I heard a full-fledged scream tear out of my throat. After that, I wasn't alone anymore.

"What the hell is wrong?" Emmett hovered over me. Teeth bared, he stepped by to block me from the forest.

There was movement throughout the house as the others rushed to find out what was going on.

"What is it?" Esme was asking somebody. Maybe me, but I couldn't find any words to answer her with. I couldn't find my voice at all, period, for I knew all I wanted to do was yell all my troubles away. My hand stayed clamped tight around my lips instead.

An arm appeared out of nowhere, slipping around me, pulling me inside. Suddenly, I wasn't afraid anymore. My thoughts were wild with what I knew I should be terrified about, but I couldn't find the emotion in me. The alarm bells in my head quieted. Without permission, my body started relaxing, and Jasper never let me go.


	10. Informing

**Thank you for reading and reviewing, and I hope you like this chapter.**

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><p><strong>CHAPTER NINE<strong>

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><p><strong>.:Alice's POV:.<strong>

It was cold tonight. Almost nine o'clock, the moon acute in the sky, I had my forehead pressed against the glass frame of the living room window, watching for anything lurking in the trees. There was nobody out there. Whoever Maysun was, I figured they had not been coming for me, but for the girl who tried to warn me of the danger I had already been seeing for days.

Jasper tightened his hold on me, securing me tighter to him. I inhaled in his scent; a mix of desert sand, almond, and something else, something that I never could quite comprehend. He did not say anything, just being one with me through my emotions. He brushed his lips along my jawline. I turned and burrowed into his chest, wishing for just a moment I could get away from the world and be alone with the man I loved.

Behind us, Edward was pacing; Rosalie was tapping her foot impatiently; Emmett was roaming from window to window, eager to defend the family; Carlisle and Esme sat and watched us dutifully; and Bella stood quiet and still, not having practiced involuntary human reactions long enough to show any physical mannerism in reaction to her stress. They all waited for me to break the silence that draped the household after I had come home screaming and Jasper had pulled me protectively inside.

As Jasper's calming influence wore off, I knew he was allowing me to gradually get a hold of myself, to concentrate on the problem rather than the fear, to say what I needed to tell them.

And I knew I needed to tell them everything.

I closed my eyes for a second, feeling ready to get this over with. Edward's pacing stopped, and everyone else froze with him, hoping he had reacted to something in my thoughts. When I opened my eyes, I pushed gently away from Jasper so I could face him and the family together. As I suspected, they were all staring expectantly at me, with varying expressions of caution, worry, and curiosity.

"I wanted to apologize first," I started at last, "but I can foresee the impatience, so I'll save it for the end and go straight to the point. What you should know — what you should have known since I first saw it a few days ago — is that I had a vision of an unknown vampire tearing me apart." My eyes stayed locked on Jasper's as I spoke. I wanted him to feel like I was telling this to him more than to the others. "The vision was extraordinarily clear, the decision rooted deep in somebody's conscious, but when I looked for this vampire with my sight, he seemed to have no plans to come to America, let alone finding me.

"So I thought, maybe, the decision was made by me somehow. Maybe I would just happen to cross paths with this stranger and anger him. But I looked ahead so many times, and I saw nothing that led me to him. Actually, I could barely get any details at all. Throughout the week I've been busy trying to make sense of who this vampire was and why he wanted me dead. You see, I realized he knew who I was when he killed me. He was waiting for me."

Ignoring the deep rumble in Jasper's chest, I continued.

"But he doesn't seem to know me_ right now_, which doesn't make sense because then I wouldn't be having a vision of him. That lead me to believe there was someone else helping him, and there are, it's just..." I sighed out my frustration. "For him, I experience sharp premonitions, but for those assisting him I see nothing. Nothing is static. Nothing is set. Time is moving only forward, and events are apparently influenced by nothing. I can think up a thousand ways to escape, and the vision never changes."

Where I once thought things progressed in orderly and predictable ways, I found only chaos and questions now. I was not used to being so unaware, and yet it was crucial that I get this right.

"I guess I have to admit that I was starting to panic. I shouldn't have kept this from you, but I was scared, and I didn't want any of you to be scared with me. You were all just so happy. I wanted things to stay normal."

_'You've been avoiding everybody, missing things you usually wouldn't, not acting like yourself... How in the world did that make it into your plan for normalcy?'_ is what Jasper would have said out loud if I hadn't already seen him say it.

"Jazz." I only had to say his name — my tone and emotions, and just the simple fact he knew me so well, told him the rest.

His face instantly softened, though his eyes remained steel. His hand cupped my cheek and a warm forgiveness emanated from his palm. He wouldn't dwell on the past — he wanted to focus on the present and, more so, the future.

I met the eyes of my family, who I could guess felt very much like my husband did.

"I am sorry, everyone. I'm going to die soon. That's all I've known for days. I shouldn't have lied to all of you about it. You trusted me to inform you if anything or anyone ever threatened this family, and I let you down."

Esme was the first to speak, though the family as a whole was quite quick to forgive, as various visions of the near future ran threw my head with each of their choices to accept my apology and move on. Even Rosalie would forgive me for my spat with her, if only because she was worried about me; still, the sunlight ordeal was far from out of her mind — she was simply pushing it aside.

"Of course you're forgiven, dear," Esme said. I was moving before she patted the spot next to her on the couch, pulling Jasper by the hand, not that he needed any guidance from me to be glued to my side.

Carlisle agreed with Esme, as Jasper and I sat down, Esme hugging me.

"We understand your reasons for keeping this a secret," he said, though he made it clear he also disapproved of my lies and believed I should have mentioned something earlier. After a moment of thought, he suddenly asked, "What frightened you?"

"Huh?"

"You were determined to keep this from us, correct?" Guilt pinched at me, but I nodded. "What happened today that changed that? You came home screaming, Alice. I wish to understand why."

My mind went back to the alarming encounter. Seeing that girl there — neither vampire, nor human — I had frozen. For a moment, I had feared the very worst. I thought, perhaps irrationally, that I had ran out of time. I thought it was the end, and I didn't even see it coming. Who she was, or why she came I had no idea, because my psychic abilities did not catch hybrids. And although she seemed weakly threatening, I knew even before she spoke that she must be connected to the man who would kill me. Somehow.

"Alice?" Carlisle urged.

"I thought my deadline...came early." Jasper's body tensed around mine. I dared a glance at him and wished I hadn't. Those mesmerizing eyes of his were pitch dark, threatening; he could kill, right now, no mercy.

I was afraid of that reaction, though not surprised by it.

"Er, when you say you're deadline..." Emmett prompted.

"I mean April 22. Eleven days from now."

My big brother narrowed his eyes with determination. "Exactly?"

"Usually. I suppose we can give or take a day, just in case. Whoever is making the decision is _trying_ not to settle on a solid date." I patted Jasper's arm when I saw his face.

"Can you make out where you are in this vision?" he demanded, wanting details. Unlike me, he cared less for the 'why' and more for the 'how'.

"Yes! I figured that out. We're in a wood mill, as random as that may sound. I just don't know where the wood mill could possibly be located. That's what I was doing today; I visited the three closest to here, but only one seemed close to my vision... And then..."

I hesitated as I collected my memories, and then I told them what had happened after I left that inconvenience store. I grimaced as I realized my poor Porsche was still stuck out there in the rain, probably greatly conspicuous with the key in the ignition, the driver door open and the sides of the steering wheel crushed into pieces.

"It doesn't sound like she wanted to hurt you..." Jasper muttered, mostly to himself, taking all information I give him into account for whatever strategies he was contemplating.

There was silence as everyone focused on their own thoughts. Apparently they were attempting to figure out how to proceed now.

"We can leave," Carlisle finally said. "Relocate. They seem to know where you are."

I spoke up before Rosalie had the chance — we just managed to get situated into this new house, and nobody really wanted to up-and-leave so soon if it could be helped.

"I've already thought of that. We could change state or continent, but nothing in my vision changes. They have me tracked down seamlessly."

"Then we put up defenses." Jasper was standing again, his voice one of authority. Now that the information was out, the planning began. "Every precaution we can take, that's what we'll do. Alice will be guarded at all times, preferably by Edward, Emmett, or myself. We are not to leave her alone."

I didn't like this. Not a single bit. Yet what other choice was there? There wasn't anything I could do on my own, though I had tried, and Jasper wasn't leaving any room for debate on his rules. Granted, he was in a protective mindset. There would be no stopping him. I wondered what he'd feel if I told him that his planning was pointless. Would he stop?

No. He would never give up, especially when it came to me. It was a frightening truth.

Although it truly wasn't going to work. I still saw myself in that room with that man.

"Maybe we could ask the wolves for help," Edward suggested, reading my visions, fully aware of the situation. "It will strengthen our force by doubling our barrier."

"They'd be willing to help, I'm positive of it," Bella said.

"If only because Nessie is as involved in this as the rest of us," Emmett said.

Would that be what it'll come down to? Guard dogs?

I had nothing against the wolves; Jacob was cool, and Seth was adorable, though Leah was not very pleasant to be around, and I haven't socialized enough with the other wolves to judge. I wouldn't be opposed to them helping us, if only it wasn't just my protection we required. Being vulnerable was a terrible feeling. Also, it seemed bringing them into this was debatable on many accounts. If they agreed, they would probably only help because we were a part of Nessie...

Wait. Something was actually wrong, I thought to Edward, as I checked the future of this new decision, expecting it to be entirely blank — that would have been the price I had to pay for wolf reinforcements. But this vision I was having was the same one, and I shouldn't be having one at all. How could that be with the wolves involved? Unless they weren't going to be. Or...

"The more protection for Alice the better, I won't complain," Jasper answered Edward's suggestion without an ounce of hesitation. "Bella, contact Jacob—"

"Hold on," Edward interrupted. "Are you sure the wolves would risk their safety for Alice, Bella? Maybe they're not going to agree to this."

"Of course they will, Edward." Bella sounded personally offended.

"Maybe not," I spoke up. "I looked ahead, of course, and—"

"You wouldn't be able to tell, Alice. You can't _see_ werewolves."

"Exactly. My future should have been blank if they had any affect on it, but the vision of me in that room remained the same. Crystal clear, without any disruption."

"That could just mean their help would do no good, not that they'd deny the favor," she murmured with a frown. She was depressed about my words either way.

"We still have to try," Jasper insisted. "Any person at any time can make a difference, and we don't have the luxury of time to just guess and hope. We have to be thorough." After a second of thought, he added, "We should move, too."

"Jazz, no." I shook my head at that, again. "I've already seen that it's not going to do any good."

"We'll keep moving. We won't settle in one place until this is over."

"You can't expect our entire family to—"

"That's exactly what I can expect from our _family_."

"I am not moving around, changing schools, forging new documents non-stop, Jasper," Rosalie protested aggressively. "Especially all in the confines of a couple weeks, or how ever long we manage to stretch this out."

Jasper turned to glare in her direction. "This isn't about what you _want_, Rosalie. Alice is in danger. You'd risk her life?"

"If Alice says it's not going to help, then it will only complicate things more."

"I must agree with Rosalie, Jasper," Carlisle said. "Knowing that Alice will be found no matter where we run is cause to not become distracted with constant evasion. We've learned that sometimes it is not the best strategy to take." His eyes flickered to Bella.

A couple years back, we faced a situation with Bella that was eerily similar to this one. James and Victoria did pose the same threat that I'm being faced with now, except that it was more sudden. We didn't have a week to prepare then, and everything still ended up all right. Eventually.

Another difference, however, was the fact that the future distinctly changed with every decision we made. The choices of every member of our family affected Bella's survival and the location of the ending battle; while _my_ future was lead to the same place, always.

Either way, though, Carlisle was right.

Edward started nodding his head. "We need to face this head on and end it. No games."

Jasper reluctantly accepted this.

"Fine. I'll take that as a valid point. But if we're staying here, we need to be prepared for anything. What we need to find out now is who this nomad and his friends are."

"What are the options?" Emmett wondered.

"The Volturi," several people said simultaneously.

It was the obvious first choice, but I shook my head.

"I would have seen the Volturi if it was them."

"They're sending someone else then. Some stranger or a new guard member, someone we've never seen," Rosalie said.

"Don't you think Alice would have, you know, seen Aro send them?" Emmett countered. He was a bit hesitant, and I knew why — it felt like we've had this _exact_ conversation before.

And we had, a year ago.

Bella was right: spring breaks were bad luck.

Bella answered Emmett's question firmly. "No. Just last year Alice didn't catch what they were up to regarding the newborn army. Aro trusted Jane to act alone, to keep us oblivious. They know how to keep Alice out, we know this. Even Victoria figured it out through Laurent."

There was a train of grimaces around the room.

"From now on," Jasper muttered, "we keep our talents to ourselves. I don't care how innocent a vampire's curiosity is — we shouldn't take the risk."

Nobody was in disagreement with him, and Carlisle nodded, finalizing it.

"Okay, the Volturi." Emmett held up a finger, counting out our suspect list. But when he held up a second finger, not one of them had a clue who could possibly be another suspect.

"Maybe Victoria made some friends with nomads while she was outrunning Edward, and they've just now learned of her death," Bella suggested.

"Nomads wouldn't care enough to avenge a friend's death..." Jasper said.

"She could have fooled them into believing she was their mate, like with Riley."

"Riley was a newborn and completely oblivious to the immortal ways. Besides, if it was anyone associated with Victoria, it would not be Alice with the deadline — it would either be you or Edward."

Bella sighed. "I guess so. I'm just trying to throw out ideas, even if they are ridiculous."

"And that was pretty ridiculous."

Bella scowled at Emmett, and I thought this entire conversation was ridiculous. I've been working at this problem all week and I still haven't figured it out.

"Condemnable suspects do seem impossible to find," Carlisle murmured. He grimaced with a new thought. "Perhaps one of our witnesses holds a vendetta against Alice?"

"Who?" I demanded. "Who could it possibly be? There is nothing any of you can think of that I haven't already. Don't you understand?" I threw my head in my arms.

Nobody talked for a moment, then I felt Carlisle's hand on mine.

"Please do not become discouraged, Alice. We've overcome a lot of obstacles as a family, no matter the odds."

"Do you have any ideas?" Bella asked Edward, who, I realized, had grown awfully quiet for someone so opinionated.

Edward looked at her, then the rest of us.

"I do. There is no doubt in my mind who it is."

We stared curiously at him, questioning.

"The only people who want to hurt any of us are those associated with the Volturi. It's not hard to assume where this vampire came from."

"But, Edward—"

"Think about it, Alice. He looks familiar, correct? Yet we have never met him. At least, not personally..."

"What are you saying? We've seen him, but not met him? Any one of us would have remembered where we saw—"

"We don't know everyone in the Guard," Edward interrupted, persistent, persuasive. "There are some we've only barely taken a glance at, never truly noticing them. Their names, their faces, their talents... all unknown. Aro or Caius could easily use one of their Guard that we are unfamiliar with. Someone who was in the background of our confrontation, nothing but another cloaked shadow. Or even one from _their_group of witnesses, as Carlisle was saying. None of us would have been paying much attention to them, and that's who the Volturi would send. Someone they know we would never be able to connect to them, and might not see coming at all. Luckily, Alice did see him. But that means little if her vision doesn't change soon."

"It seems rather far-fetched, Edward," Carlisle said. "But it would be unwise to rule it out, I suppose... I'm curious, though — _did_ you notice anything change in your vision, Alice? At any point, did something..."

I cut him off.

"Something did change."

"What was it?"

"The second vision I had in which I didn't force had a distinct difference: there was another man in the room. I still can't bring it into clarity, his face. All I can get out of it is his skin is vampire pale, and his hair is dark, messy... Reddish, I think. Anyway, _he's_ the one who kills me. I always suspected the first man was the killer, but that wasn't it. There was someone else. They are working together."

"Both male?" I nodded. "And you ran into a woman today, correct?"

"I said he had assistants."

"How many vampires can you possibly not be seeing?" Rosalie questioned warily, not believing it should be that easy to get past me.

"I'm not completely blind," I defended myself. "I see the vampires. At least, I see the one, the first man. The second, I only get flickers of him in that wood mill. But the girl I can't see for a reason. Which brings me to another problem. The girl I ran into today... She was only half vampire."

There was a beat of silence.

"You mean-"

"Yes. Like Renesmee."

"The only other half-vampires we know of are Nahuel and his sisters," Jasper said.

"I realize that," I responded, shaking my head. "It just doesn't make sense."

"Wait." Bella wasn't looking at any of us — her eyes were on the ceiling. "Nahuel... That's it, Alice! The man you drew on that paper was the one from your vision, right? And he looked familiar, but we couldn't figure out why."

I caught on immediately.

"He looks like Nahuel," I finished with a gasp. "So did the girl, now that I think about it. Only slightly, of course, but enough to hold a connection."

There was confusion throughout the room.

"What are you two talking about?" Rosalie asked, Jasper echoing her question.

"Are you saying Nahuel has something to do with this?"

"No. Maybe. All I know is the man has similar features as him. Like Edward and Bella compared to Renesmee."

My words triggered a sudden understanding.

"You mean Nahuel's father?" Esme wondered, incredulous.

"Joham," Carlisle clarified.

"It's not Joham," Edward insisted intently.

"What makes you so sure?" Rosalie shot at him, crossing her arms. "How are you such an expert all of a sudden? You know nothing more than we do."

Edward's eyes darkened, and for a second I was reminded of his expression when he had lashed out at me. But instead of saying anything to her, Edward turned to me. "You trust me?"

It seemed a weird question, the way he said it.

"I trust you believe strongly that the Volturi are behind this, but there's no evidence."

"You've never been in their thoughts, have you?" Edward countered sharply.

A smirk appeared on his face as he thought of something. The expression was off, for him, especially in this type of discussion. It was almost like he found something ironic about what he was going to say.

Strange. Edward's not usually this bizarre.

"Perhaps you are right about Joham. So, tell me, why would he want to kill you?" I didn't respond, knowing he was just planning to interrupt me. "The answer is: the Volturi. It goes right back to them. When they left us, they were determined to hunt Nahuel's father down. Apparently they managed to find him in record time, and they indulged him with an offer in which, should he choose to accept it, would pardon him of his unlawful experimenting."

"Alice wouldn't have caught that?" Emmett tried to argue, but, at this point, we all knew what I 'saw' these days was very little in quantity.

That upset me more than anything, though I knew it wasn't reasonable; I slumped my head down slightly, wearily, feeling the need to escape this house once again. I needed air. I had already spent hours upon hours relentlessly mulling over this problem, and I've grown exhausted from all the lack of possibilities. They could continue; it was still fresh in their minds, and Nahuel's connection was new information for them to consider. Maybe if I handed the torch over to them for a while and let my mind refresh, so I could think clearly too, then I wouldn't feel this growing irritation.

Without a word or glance, I booked it into the forest, staying close but eager to get away from my family — from their stares and the way they made me feel, like a victim waiting to happen.

Which I was.

* * *

><p><strong>.:Jasper's POV:.<strong>

The move was so quick, I hadn't had time to react.

Alice dashed, top speed, out of the house, out of my arms, out of my protection. The atmosphere my mind was in, I almost hissed as she escaped. Her emotions were clear enough for me as to why she left, but I highly disagreed with her action. Why would she run out of the safety of the house? She was smarter than that.

I moved to go after her. Someone grabbed my arm, stopping me. It was Edward.

"Let her go," he said.

By the look on his face, by his seriousness, I could tell he clearly wasn't making some twisted joke. How insane did he think I was?

_You know what's happening. I'm not allowing her to wander outside alone._

"She needs time with her thoughts right now."

"I can't allow that. I'm going after her."

"She doesn't want to see you."

His words angered me. I shoved him away with more force than I intended; Edward had to take several steps back. I hardly cared that Bella — still a newborn — growled at the action, or that Esme admonished me with both motherly scorn and sympathy. I ran off after Alice.

When I caught up with her, we weren't even a mile away from the house; I realized we were just far enough for the house to be silent. I was glad she stayed a lot closer to home than her eager retreat led me to believe.

Alice was nestled in some high branches, staring up toward the sky, letting the rain wash over her face, as if purifying her. Seeing her there, laying lightly up in the trees, the wind caressing her face, reminded me — though I needed no reminder — of how gorgeous she was.

If only there wasn't this ugliness that plagued her beautiful life.

"You should have listened to Edward," she said without looking at me. I ignored that.

"It's not safe out here."

"My deadline is over a week away," she argued, as if that revelation was supposed to be good.

Taking in every contour and curve of her face, I couldn't help trying to imagine such beauty no longer existing in this world, and I failed to. There was no imagination strong enough, because it was too impossible a thing. If Alice's life was to end, it would not be in such a violent way. Whatever a natural death was for a vampire, I couldn't say, but somehow it wasn't this. Not for my Alice.

Climbing the length of the tree until I reached my mate's location, I crouched beside her, shielding her from the rest of the woods. As I studied her — body laid out along a weave of branches, wet clothes clinging so precisely to her curves she might as well not have been wearing anything; raindrops glistening down her midnight hair; her head bent slightly back, exposing her porcelain neck — the urge to be with her surfaced. I wanted to gather her close. I wanted to weave my fingers through hers. I wanted to run my lips over that neck.

I never wanted to lose the privilege to be with her, to love her.

Sensing my thoughts better than if she was Edward, Alice's eyes glided open, capturing my gaze, sweet honey against cool topaz. There was understanding in her stare, but she remained quiet.

"You are not going to die," I told her. "I won't allow anything to happen to you."

"That's not what my visions say." I flinched, and she pulled my face down to her level. She hadn't meant to upset me. "I'm sorry, Jazz. Maybe things will be different now that you know - that everyone knows. I shouldn't be so negative. It's very pessimistic of me."

"What you see is never set in stone," I agreed, my voice revealing my desperate determination.

She didn't move, and neither did I. After a second, she wrapped her arms around my torso, a bitter smile playing around her lips. She didn't have to explain it — I understood after a second.

I slid underneath her and she collapsed against me, fitting her head under my chin. This time I didn't say anything. I didn't tell her that it would all be okay. And I didn't try to force her into a plan or compare past experiences to figure out how an attack on her could be orchestrated. I just fastened my arms around her, pulled her close, and silently acknowledged the obvious — that, regardless of the stakes, she didn't want to be comforted, she wanted to find the answer.


	11. Belief

**CHAPTER TEN**

* * *

><p><strong>.:Alice's POV:.<strong>

_"Edward is certain it's the Volturi," Rosalie said._

_"Edward's been wrong before," Esme cautioned._

_"He's also been right before," countered Emmett._

_Carlisle sighed. "I just don't know what to believe. A retaliation from the Volturi is inevitable, but it's much too soon. I can't imagine they would act barely four months since our trial with them."_

_"Maybe. But think about all the gossip spreading like a wild fire out there," Emmett said. "Your Irish friend, Siobhan, said the same — that it might make them more determined to move sooner rather than later."_

_"It's enough motivation," Rosalie hedged. "They probably know we won't expect them to act this early. And if they did bribe Nahuel's father with a pardon, wouldn't he act immediately?"_

_"Then why only go after Alice and not the rest of us?" Bella questioned._

_"To separate us, confuse us, take us down one-by-one." Emmett shrugged. "The talents in our family will be the first to go."_

_Carlisle stared at his children. "Whatever the case may be, we should not limit ourselves to the Volturi. We must keep an open mind — it could be anyone."_

_"But who else would want to harm Alice?" Esme asked._

_"I don't know. Yet, it doesn't disprove that there may be someone out there who wants to."_

I blinked, then squeezed my eyes shut and turned in Jasper's arms so my face was against his collar, tired of watching the conversation that was playing out.

"The family assumes it's the Volturi, but Carlisle insists we be cautious of anybody."

"He's right," Jasper murmured, his thumb smoothing over the top of my head.

"The idea that Nahuel's father could be working on his own isn't sitting well with them, either."

"What motivation would he have? He doesn't know who you are. The Volturi's involvement makes the most sense."

Edward's theory was the most likely scenario and we all knew it. I didn't know why I was having such a hard time accepting it. It must be ego-related — my pride getting in the way of acceptance, simply because I truly believed the Volturi would not be able to sneak by my sight a second time. The truth was Aro knew me better than I knew myself; if he wanted to get around my visions again, he would find a way, and it would be different than the last time.

Completely unsettling.

And then, what if what I _was_ seeing was wrong?

Jasper felt my discomfort.

"Tell me," he prodded.

"I'm afraid my visions might make mistakes."

"No mistake will be bigger than your decision to keep this from me," Jasper said. I grimaced as I looked at him, but his eyes stayed away from mine. He was still mad about that, with every right to be.

"In any case, your visions do not make mistakes — it's all about how you interpret them. If whatever course Joham is on is leading him here to...end your life, we will fight him."

Jasper wanted to fight him, I knew. Even the thought of being a threat to me didn't sit well in his mind, even if the man turned out not to be Joham at all.

"I just have this bad feeling," I admitted with a sigh.

"We all do. It's not often a person's path is created without a decision on their part." His eyes hardened. "We've been out here too long. I suggest we head back and discuss this with the others."

"There will be no point. I'm not used to being this blind, or having my fate seemingly so resolute and unchangeable, but I know we have to make this work. Yet, there's nothing left to talk about; we just have to be ready, keep our guard up, just as you said. I am not being pessimistic when I say it's all we can do."

My words hung in the air for a moment. Jasper met my gaze, but I had already begun to feel another round of determination. That look in his eyes was not the last image I wanted to have of him; behind that courage, beyond the conviction there was a great fear that, try as he might, he could not hide. I imagined what he was picturing: a world where I was gone and he stood alone once again. It reminded me of the time Edward believed Bella was dead; Edward not only couldn't live without her — he _wouldn't_ live without her. If Jazz was put in that situation, what would he do? What would he choose? I thought of Marcus of the Volturi, as well — a sorrow had the ancient blanketed for eternity with the loss of his mate. Jasper could either join me or walk the earth as a shadow of the man he was now. He would never be hollow like Marcus, because the constant emotion in the world wouldn't give him that option. There was no escape from the pain. And where Jasper hurt, everyone near him would hurt. He wouldn't even be able to stay with the family; it would only make them all ten times more miserable.

Whatever might happen to me was nowhere near as bad as what would happen to the people I left behind. Especially my mate.

"You believe we can fight this, don't you?" Jasper asked.

"I believe we will fight our hardest," I answered honestly. There was the beginning of a grin on his face at that.

"You're gonna have to believe more than that, Alice." He paused. "All the impossible things you accomplish and, now, when it really matters..."

"Everything I do matters." He chuckled, but went on anyway.

"When it really matters you set a limit? Don't. If you're going to believe in something, go all out, just like you always do. We need you to._ I_ need you to."

His words affected me more than I thought they would. Because he was right. Oh, of course he was. When I aimed for a goal, I went above and beyond my own potential simply because I was concentrated so strongly on overcoming the obstacle. And Jasper knew better than most how beneficial one emotion could be in a situation. If one was determined enough they could accomplish practically anything; whether they failed or succeeded, the power of their confidence would bring out their very best, and that best would be far more than even the person thought they were capable of.

Where my own life was concerned, when my survival was at risk, I shouldn't be addressing limitations. That didn't sound like me at all.

I stared back at Jasper silently. _Jasper..._

I had to survive. I would survive, for him if no one else was motivation enough.

Instead of responding, I just kissed him. Everything else was forgotten for the time being, as he kissed back — a warm, delicious kiss that sent shivers across my body and made my head feel impossibly light. He took my hand, smiled — a full, handsome smile — and switched our positions so he was above me before our lips met again. Like the branches we were nested in, we spent the rest of the night tangled up together.

The rain never let up. When morning came, it was difficult to tell how long the sun had been up. I leaned against Jasper's chest, allowing him to cozy me up in his embrace. It felt so good to be held like this by him, even fully clothed again, as we now were; unfortunately, our clothes were soaked and ruined, and I was glad I wasn't human to feel how uncomfortable this clothing looked. If Jasper hadn't been the other choice, I would have picked clean clothes by now. But I hadn't wanted to move away from him just yet.

But, of course, now I saw Emmett heading our way. I warned Jasper before we could hear our brother's crushing footsteps steadily making their way closer. Jasper and I made sure we were presentable enough, and hopped from the tree as soon as Emmett came into view.

Then I clapped my hands together cheerily when I saw what he was going to tell me.

"You saved my Porsche!"

There was a smirk. "And-"

"And Rosalie says the damage isn't that bad!"

"Pretty much. But, seriously, you could have at least let me say it."

"But you did say it. In the future."

Emmett narrowed his eyes when I gave him my innocent 'Are-you-really-going-to-hold-it-against-me?' look. He wanted to say he hated when I did that, and the expression I give afterward, but he actually held his tongue. He knew it was exactly those reasons that I did it in the first place.

That, and sometimes I just can't help myself when I get excited.

"Well, anyway, while Rose salvaged the car, Edward, Bella and I went to sniff out the scent of the half-breed you said you saw. No luck, though. The storm's already washed away any trace of her. We ran the perimeter of the house for signs of visitors, but found nothing, again. We only, er, heard you two." I grinned at my husband, unashamed, when Emmett's well-known mischievous smirk appeared at his memory.

Jasper's focused expression softened slightly in amusement, and when Emmett didn't continue, still grinning, Jasper asked, "Hear anything you liked?"

"Yeah — Rose's jab at Edward and Bella," he snorted. "I have to thank you, because the expression on Bella's face when she realized what we were hearing gave us enough fuel to keep the jokes going for days."

Unable to help my giggle, I covered my mouth. "Poor Bella. I mean, Edward's used to being at the butt of these jokes by now, but her..."

Emmett laughed. "Yeah, it's great."

Jasper chuckled once, then sighed away the humor and ushered us back to the house. It was clear what he wanted to focus on now.

Back at the house, the others were waiting for us. Carlisle wondered if I managed to catch any new information, and I told him I hadn't, though he already assumed as much. He was being hopeful while remaining realistic. Perhaps they all were, because nobody wanted to truly believe the future I was seeing was a solid, guaranteed ending.

We spent the rest of the day inside, keeping me safe and trying to find answers that I told them over and over again that are out of our reach. But I helped them, regardless. Who knew, I could have missed something.

Carlisle attempted to contact Nahuel or his aunt Huilen, but it was an impossible task when they had no phone, no computer, no fixed location. All we had to go on was they wandered South America. We planned to head there in search for them and that's when my vision changed, but it wasn't very encouraging. My death scene was the same, the only thing that changed was the background, the location; the wood mill was gone, replaced by a rain forest. My family was starting to realize what I meant when I said they had me tracked down to a T. It was almost like they could see us, hear us. Like they knew me as well as my family did. And with my encounter with the hybrid girl yesterday, maybe they _were_ very aware. Too aware. Aware enough to know when I left the house. Quick enough to remain undetected, even by the most gifted of us.

In the end, staying where we were was the best option. We knew our surroundings and we were comfortable here, making it easier. Traveling to another continent, if it didn't help anyway, would just be a waste, and we wouldn't have found Nahuel and Huilen in time. It was hard to accept we couldn't talk to Nahuel after connecting his family of sorts into my situation. Something told me that if we had never met Nahuel this wouldn't be happening; on the other hand, without his help in December we wouldn't exist right now to begin with. Nahuel was the key to saving my family last time there was danger, and I hoped he wasn't the key this time, because there was no way to get a hold of him.

As the weekend came and went uneventfully in every aspect, I found myself wondering when all the drama was going to end. I've seen it all. I've had visions of my best friend's death, the death of a stranger, and of my own all in the confines of three years. And it was true none of us died. But was this time different? Was it different because the cause was so unclear, because our decisions were not affecting the outcome, because I didn't _see_ that the conclusion could possibly be so good? All the other times we at least had a semblance of a chance...

I sighed as I lifted my head from my curled position on the couch, and looked out the window.

Edward was standing at the edge of the yard, staring out at the forest like he was looking for something, trying to hear something that the rest of us could not. He made me curious. I went out to see what he was doing, and then I 'saw' he wasn't doing anything; or at least, he wouldn't tell me.

He gave a brief glance of acknowledgement as I made my way over to him.

"Go back inside, Alice."

_No. _"You look like something is bothering you."

"Of course something is bothering me. What do you think it is?" He wasn't facing me, but I could picture him rolling his eyes.

Ever since finding out about my deadline, Edward has been the most vehement about his opinions and silent about his worries, and no matter what he was saying or who he was talking to, he always seemed focused on something. I wanted to say it was just Edward being Edward — intense, fervid, determined to know everything about what we were facing and solve its problems because he didn't like uncertainty — but even Edward was never so consumed by something that his hard facial expression never rested. And when we weren't talking about visions of Joham and the mysterious other man who killed me, Edward didn't speak. I also wasn't oblivious to the looks Jasper threw in our brother's direction every now and then — something in Edward's emotions was puzzling my husband. So, I knew something was up with him, and I felt it was not just the obvious.

"I mean, besides my visions," I clarified, slightly grimacing. "It seemed like you heard something out there."

I peered into the vast array of trees. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, but if there was a sneaking body out there somewhere, Edward would pick up their thoughts before anything else presented itself to any of my senses (my own sixth sense no longer counted).

"There's nobody out there," Edward said, his brow furrowing. "But even if there was... I'm not entirely certain I'd be able to..."

_To catch them?_ I thought. If this was where he was going, I would extinguish his lack of confidence with disbelief, sarcasm, and strong optimism.

"It's not that. I just feel something about me is...off."

Something told me he wasn't just responding to my previous thoughts about his behavior, which meant I wasn't understanding what he was trying to say, so I went for lighthearted humor.

"Of course. I've been telling you this for years."

His voice was serious, quiet when he responded, "Well, if you told me in the past few days, I wouldn't know."

My mind went back to a conversation where Edward's words were similar, when he had come to apologize about his burst of violent anger toward me but had no memory of it. With all that's been happening, I had successfully pushed the mystery to the back of my head. Apparently, that didn't mean the issue didn't exist anymore. Could he still be... Why? How? And why now?

Before I could collect my thoughts, Edward started to walk off. I let him go fifty yards before my feet started moving, too.

"Don't follow me."

I didn't say anything as I quickened my pace until I was directly behind him and we had walked a distance more.

"Alice..." I guessed he wanted to sound threatening to get me to turn around. Did he want to be alone? "Yes. And you should stay by the house, with the others, safe."

"I'm safe with you."

Edward faced me. I expected to see irritation, or frustration, or an air of authority, because Edward gets like that when he thinks he knows best; instead, his eyes were almost visibly glazed over in what I could only describe as pain. The sight startled me.

_Why is he suddenly so sad?_

"I'm not," he said, backing away from me, his eyes only getting worse.

_Edward, don't lie to me. Not now._

"Look, I..." He shook his head once, sharply, as if to clear it.

_Or maybe to remember_, I thought, troubled by this.

"Everything is... I just want everything to be okay."

"It will be," I assured him. We had to believe that more than anything. "We're working together now. I'm not being stupid. Everything will be fine."

"Is that what you see?" His voice was suddenly angry. I didn't know what I said to trigger that mood swing. I decided to be honest — I shook my head.

"Exactly. Don't try to downplay it, Alice. It's frustrating when you do. And tell me something else: Where do you see the rest of us while you're facing death in the face? There are seven of us to watch over you and you're telling me that we're completely useless to you?"

This line of thinking was new to me. I had always assumed that not being able to see them in my visions meant they didn't get involved enough and, therefore, never had the chance to get hurt. I accepted that fully. But I had involved my family now, so shouldn't I see them somewhere doing something? Maybe I should look for their futures, too.

"No," Edward growled almost silently, and I looked at him, confused. His eyes shut before mine could meet them, and he pinched the bridge of his nose, his voice going back to normal. "No, no, I mean... Don't... Ugh!"

He suddenly turned his back on me, fists clenched as he started walking away again.

"Edward!"

"I can't be near you." There was a roughness in his voice. A threat. "Just...stay away from me."

I watched him go, and I was pretty sure I wanted to smack him despite I was worried about him. Why was he acting this way?

"He's scared." Jasper's voice didn't startle me; I had caught his scent as he was making his way toward us.

Okay, so I already knew Edward felt that way. It wasn't a big leap whether Edward admitted it himself or not.

And why would he want me to stay away from him, if he felt so worried about me?

"I'm sure he just needs a moment to clear his head from the stress," Jasper said, as if reading my mind. He sighed then. "In any case, he had better get a hold of himself soon — Renesmee and Jacob just pulled onto the drive."

My heart jumped in excitement and fell in despair simultaneously. For one, I was so happy to have my niece home. But another aspect was I worried she might end up being involved in my visions somehow and I wouldn't be able to catch it.

Jasper and I took our time to get back, giving the others a fair chance to greet our returning family members. When we finally got there, the distinct, very different scents of Nessie and Jacob filling our noses, Rosalie was right outside the house with a happy Nessie in her arms, already complaining about the smell. Emmett went up the porch steps two at a time and stepped inside the house.

"C'mon, Rose. It isn't that bad in here." His expression didn't match his words.

"Yes, m'hmm, I can tell." Rosalie grinned sardonically. "So I will wait here while you open the windows and air the house out, until I get used to this disgusting smell again."

Emmett didn't even hesitated before he said, "You heard her, Ness."

"Her?" Bella's brow clouded.

"It's never too early to teach her the rule: your pet, your responsibility."

"Jake's not a pet," Nessie said, her voice ringing sweetly. But when she glanced sideways at the boy next to her, probably picturing him as a russet canine with his tongue hanging out of his mouth and tail wagging, she giggled.

"I missed your laugh, my little Nessie!" I cried once in the yard.

She squealed, wriggling her way out of Bella's arms, her curls bouncing and eyes shining. Once on the ground she darted toward me at top speed. I opened my arms and she jumped into a hug, then proceeded to show me countless images of her fun-filled journey. Still, at the end I was warmed to know she had missed me as much as I had her.

"You can't imagine how much we've missed you around here — your mother would not try on anything I made for her!"

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Bella give me a dirty look. It was also defiant, like she didn't think I could make her daughter force her to change her mind. Like she didn't remember that it was only a month ago that I succeeded with that very tactic.

"Hey, guys," Jacob greeted, smiling.

"How was the trip?" Jasper asked him after kissing the top of Nessie's head when she demanded a hug from him, too.

"Too short."

Bella stole Nessie from my arms, then, and squeezed her in an unbreakable embrace. "Speak for yourself. I can't believe how much you've grown, Nessie! No more trips without me until you're older. Did you take a lot of pictures?"

Jacob nodded.

"Check her weight and height each day?"

"Yes."

"What did you feed her?"

"Jeez, Bells. Would you relax? I followed your and Edward's rules exactly. Plus, you already know everything — Nessie called you everyday!"

Bella still didn't look appeased, but Nessie put her hand to her mother's cheek and whatever Bella was about to say was instantly no longer that important for us to hear. My best friend's theatrical interrogation was amusing. Nessie had grown, certainly, but the way Bella made it sound seemed so much an exaggeration. Then again, perhaps I should be lenient; things might look different through the eyes of a mother.

"Oh, Renesmee! Look how you've grown!"

I laughed. Esme stood at the doorway, her hands clapped together like she was horrified about her granddaughter's growth; or rather, sorry that she missed it.

Nessie couldn't get to her grandmother fast enough. The rest of us followed them inside, even reluctant Rosalie. I couldn't blame her - the werewolf stink was already clinging to everything. Hopefully it wouldn't take long to become immune to the smell again. And not because I had little time, anyway. That kind of thinking was taboo.

As Esme went to prepare some food, and Nessie was handed off to Carlisle, the room suddenly vanished and I was standing in a very familiar throne room.

When my family was once again what I was seeing, I noticed that only Nessie and Jacob were oblivious that I had had a vision. Even with Nessie's return, the others weren't letting their guard down.

"Jasper..." I began.

"What is it?"

"I see the Guard still in Volterra."

He stared at me, confusion disrupting the alarm. My words were obvious to him. "They aren't coming after you — Joham is, with whoever is helping him. We know this already."

"That's not what I mean." I turned to Carlisle. "Aro and Caius are beginning to discuss that a group led by Demetri should set out in search for the creator of half-breeds."

Carlisle's eyebrows raised. "You're saying they have yet to even begin the search for Joham?"

I nodded.

"Then Edward's theory is invalid. The Volturi can't be behind this."

There were glances around the room.

"Could it be a distraction?" Rosalie wondered. "Maybe they want us to believe they haven't acted yet."

"No," I said. "This is genuine. I know it."

And if Joham was not out to get me because of the Volturi's influence — then, why?

"What are you vamps talking about?" Jacob questioned sharply with narrowing eyes.

Nessie was paying close attention, as well. Seeing her here, hearing her heartbeat and feeling her warmth suddenly made my worries about her return more serious. She wasn't even a year old yet, and this would be the second time her family was in danger. I didn't want this in her head, weighing her down as she worried about me, worried just like her parents. But there was no lying about it, no denying it, no keeping it from the little one who deserved a happy, carefree childhood without any possible tragedy.

Carlisle was the one who answered, carefully. He explained the situation to Jacob, admitted we were in a tight place, told him that we had already deemed him Nessie's guardian during the days following, and even through words that were merely meant to inform, there was the strong implication that my vampire father had vowed to protect me.

We, the Cullens, were a coven of strong, closely-bonded vampires who were not easily taken down, as we've proved on several occasions. With all our experience, it would be hard to separate us, to break the one under attack away from the others. So Edward's questioning about where he was during my death, about where Jasper was, about where anybody was, was on my mind again, because unlike so many other things he's been saying and doing, Edward's question actually made sense. He and Jasper and our family had to be fighting _somewhere_.

It made me hope that my family was there, and that the only thing hiding them from my sight was any hybrids involved.

Or Jacob.

A swell of hope formed in me. I had completely left out Jacob and what he could imply. I had seen Bella die once before... Well, several times, actually, but _that_ one time Jacob had saved her and I didn't see. He blocked my talent and all I saw was Bella drown, even though she didn't. With Jacob involved, maybe, just maybe, that could be the case this time, too.


	12. Carnival

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

* * *

><p><strong>.:Jasper's POV:.<strong>

The Spring Carnival.

We had given it up — the ferris wheel, the games, the neon signs that glittered in the excitement of entertained humans. We had thrown it away, a pastime as obsolete as any other. However, before all the craziness, we had promised Renesmee we would take her, so how could we disappoint her?

"You are sure it's safe to go?" the seven-month-old asked Alice in a quiet voice.

Alice was in the middle of searching the child's closet for something "bright and fun" for her to wear tonight. I stood in my own closet a couple rooms down, getting ready for the family outing I was against, and focusing my ears on their conversation above any others going on in the house that I could easily pick up with my hearing.

"Of course I am!" Alice laughed in response to our niece's fair question. I heard how forced it was. Still, Alice persisted. "Actually, the best time to go is tonight. The stars will be out for a couple hours, the breeze will be warm for you, and nothing bad will happen."

"You don't know if the last part is true or not — you can't see past me and Jake."

"Are you doubting me, little missy? Doubting your Auntie Alice?"

I imagined Renesmee shaking her head, as she couldn't seem to help the giggle that escaped, like it did every time she was accused of such a thing. She never doubted Alice. Never bet against her. She never felt the need to.

But then her hopes fell again.

Renesmee didn't want to doubt her aunt, yet I knew she could feel the tension in the household, the anxiety among us all that was only rising. Renesmee was too smart for her own good; too young to be so aware; too precious to ever be hurt.

And we would all hurt if something happened to Alice.

Dare we risk the blanks in the future that Renesmee and Jacob presented? Should we go to the carnival even if Alice couldn't see, one-hundred percent, that nobody would be there, that nothing would go wrong? Sure, Alice assured her captors wouldn't bother us when we went to school due to the amount of human witnesses, so it seemed easy to assume a carnival held the same safety. But the week that passed was far enough away from her deadline that I had accepted the assumption; now, we were a mere three days away. And it would be dark enough that the human eyes probably posed a lesser risk to whoever came for my Alice.

The fear I held inside me was distressing, and it had gotten increasingly worse since days ago, when I had first learned what Alice had been hiding from me. With an entire week of surveillance, mental and physical preparedness, and unfulfilled theories behind us, all we had left to do was wait, anxiously ticking down the final days. Nothing we discovered or did beforehand mattered; we could only be ready for the inevitable battle. Alice had warned me as much, but I hadn't wanted to believe her. And even if I had believed her, I would have still tried.

There was still a few days left before the deadline, but if there was even the slightest chance something could happen tonight, I wanted to be ready for it.

Throwing on the first shirt I touched, then grabbing the sturdiest shoes I had and shoving them on, I took one glance at the wall-sized mirror as I left to make sure I was Alice-presentable, and then I went to go find my brothers.

"Can you answer me honestly, if I ask you something?" I heard Renesmee ask, as I headed up the hallway.

I couldn't hear Alice's answer, but I guessed she nodded when Renesmee spoke her question.

"Are you scared?"

I locked onto Alice's emotions; they spiked, some feelings stronger than others. I had to hold myself back from dispelling the more unpleasant emotions in her, as I more than wanted to.

"Not as much as I am for you and our family...and your Uncle Jasper."

So she was worried about us more than herself. It was so like her, ignoring my orders to concentrate only on herself, to not be distracted by sad 'what if's'. Why couldn't she see it would only benefit her further if she set aside those thoughts? I wished Alice would just take care of herself, but I knew it could never happen — she wouldn't be Alice if she did. Her selflessness I cherished and hated in equal amounts.

Perhaps, since she clearly wasn't thinking solely about herself, I should try, again, to prevent going to the Spring Carnival. There was always next year, after all. And I could feel most of the others were wary, too; it wouldn't be that hard to persuade them to change their minds about tonight.

My thoughts must have been more than decided, because Alice's head suddenly popped out from Renesmee's bedroom, her expression challenging. "Don't you dare, Jazz."

I could already hear the underlying _"Let's focus on having fun tonight, alright?"_ that was sure to follow, but I didn't give her a chance to say it. I allowed my resolve to fade, letting her know by my eyes that I would let her win this argument, even if I had no good reason why.

Turning out of her view when I hit the staircase, I heard her sigh and head back to Renesmee. I sighed, too, and headed for where the sound of my siblings' chatter emanated. Emmett and Edward _would_ be on high alert with me, because trusting them was the only way I was going to find a slight moment of peace tonight.

OoOoOoO

The stars, as Alice predicted, appeared through gaps in the clouds. No moon shone in the sky, but a great deal of noise and light coming from the earth below it more than made up for it. The carnival was lit with entertainment.

Between the flashing lights and shrieking children, I actually granted myself, for a second, to think our enemies would not be here; rather, they would want to stay as far away from this place as possible. It was impossible, but my surroundings were giving me — what one would call — a headache. I couldn't imagine any vampire would come here unless awfully thirsty, which would not be the case for the ones I was keeping an eye out for.

Allowing that thought, however, didn't last. Everyone else around me was quite happy, enjoying themselves, from what I could tell. Probably, it was my own mood that twisted my perception of this place. All these festive colors and strange rides and the playful music should lift my spirits a fraction. The giddy atmosphere of the people should affect me. In truth, it kind of made me want to glare at them all. How could anyone enjoy themselves when a big clock was ticking over Alice's head?

But my mood would only upset Alice and my family; I refused to let it rub off on them, so I forced a smile as Bella dragged us all to the rotating circle of lights that stood out most brilliantly, taller than anything else in the fair, spinning on its neon axis. Renesmee's never been on a ferris wheel before. Many things here would be a first for her tonight, and I was determined to express the joy I felt for her. I was pretty sure I managed for the first half hour we were here. But then I started focusing on Alice's laughter or watching her perfect smile as it rubbed off on everyone around her, and I was getting hit by the overwhelming desire to end the vampires who wanted to destroy her life.

Thinking about it, my eyes scanned the fair grounds in search for something that didn't belong. A man hidden in the shadows cast by game booths; a wicked grin hidden among the cheerful ones; a pair of menacing crimson eyes set firmly on Alice's every movement...

Although, a hybrid's eyes could be any color, if that was what came for Alice. She had already ran into one, almost two — they could easily still be around despite that we hadn't seen any trace of them since. A hybrid would definitely be a little more difficult to spot in this crowd. It would be the perfect strategy.

"Earth to Jasper!"

I turned to see Alice staring at me. We were alone. Where'd the others—

"The others wandered off," Alice answered my question before it fully formed in my head. Then she pointed to the area designated for shopping stands.

"And that's where we're headed, I take it."

She laughed with a smile, taking my hand and pulling me along. Alice seemed to enjoy what the booths had to offer, appreciating the effort and handiwork some buyers put into their products. I could already tell we weren't leaving here tonight without a souvenir. And speaking of leaving...

When I was sure Alice was distracted, I checked the time on my watch. We had an hour to go. A part of me wished the rain would begin sooner, forcing us to make our leave early, but then... well, nothing's happened so far, and everyone was having fun — no. I would not let my guard down. Anything could happen, even if I caught no sound or scent that was cause to worry.

Alice grabbed my attention again. She showed me a painting she'd been intrigued with.

"It's no van Gogh, but it's beautiful, isn't it?"

I tried not to smile too much, in an effort to hide my amusement at her usual candor. The young painter didn't know how to feel about his potential customer's choice of words; most people didn't when it came to Alice.

"I like it," Alice said finally. And that was enough for me.

As we walked on to the next booths, a good sized painting under my arm and Alice waving to the painter who no longer seemed partly insulted, I genuinely felt the happiness of tonight's activities for the first time myself. It had to do, I was sure, with the familiarity of shopping with my mate. Most things in the carnival were not ordinary things we Cullens did, and the risk we were taking didn't leave room for me to enjoy the experience. But shopping with Alice — that was normal, that felt right, like nothing was wrong.

"Oh, look, Jazz. How pretty..."

Alice left my side to scour a booth with a vast collection of vibrant flowers. We had almost made it to the end of the aisle, too. I shook my head fondly, standing off to the side to wait for her. On the other side of me was another booth filled with plants and home decorations, and across was a stand of jewelry. I could already predict what we would do once Alice had gotten her fill of flower gazing; we'd skip the plants and make our way across to the jewelry, but only if Alice saw something she liked at first glance. Looking at it myself, I wondered what Alice might pick out if she found interest there. None of what I saw was particularly alluring. At least from a man's perspective, I reasoned. But then I read the signs and realized there was meaning to these accessories. I'd never been all that superstitious...but one caught my attention.

Looking at Alice, I saw my chance to make a purchase without her catching on. She was engrossed in a conversation with the lady who ran the flower shop. By the time I had made my was across the aisle and returned, Alice was just saying goodbye to the elderly woman. Good timing.

Even better was that the woman apparently told Alice that we should go see the lake — it was a romantic section of the fair, perfect for "a young couple like us". Alice liked the idea, and I found it a fitting place to give my gift to her, so we headed off in mutual agreement.

The moment we reached the lake I could tell why the woman had been insistent Alice share a moment with me here. It was quiet, peaceful, lush green surrounded us and the lake glittered with the stars that came and went with the passing clouds. I'd seen more magnificent settings in my lifetime, but it would be selling this place short to claim this wasn't a nice spot. It definitely had its charms.

I watched Alice survey our surroundings and come to the same conclusion as me. Then set her painting down and opened my arms.

"It would be rude to the the kind woman if we did not share a moment," I said in all seriousness. I grinned when Alice giggled. She came into my arms and turned, her back against me, as we took in the atmosphere. I waited until Alice's emotions thoroughly relaxed before I quickly presented what I had got her, not wanting to give myself time to _decide_.

"Close your eyes," I murmured softly in her ear. "And don't you look ahead."

I watched her reflection in the lake as she smirked and complied to my instructions.

"How do you know I haven't already seen this?"

"You wouldn't have that feeling of surprise in you, if you had."

Her smile grew. "Fair enough."

Neither of us mentioned the reason Alice hadn't caught on to my plans, the distraction that kept her mind busy, because not even I had the skill to hide my choices from Alice if she was watching. Despite Alice's genuine cheerfulness and persuasions to just have fun, I knew even she hadn't let go of her responsibilities completely; she was still searching the future for signs of immediate danger.

But, for now, that could wait.

I pulled the black box that held the piece I had bought for Alice out of my pocket and opened it. Careful, I slipped the necklace into my hand and fastened it around Alice's neck. When I came across this, I knew it was perfect — perfect for Alice and her...predicament. Now, I admired the way the heart-shaped citrine pendant, the size of a nickel, showcasing a floral overlay design, hung from its silver chain, contrasting nicely with Alice's creamy skin.

"Open."

Alice's eyes swiftly opened, eager to see the gift.

She beamed at her reflection in the water.

"Jazz, it's perfect!" Her hand flew up to touch the sparkling, pale yellow gem, while my arms encircled her waist.

Content by her reaction, I buried my face in her soft, spiky hair and pulled her closer. She smelled amazing.

"You know I don't usually do surprises," Alice said, after spending a couple seconds approving her new accessory, "but you always manage to make them wonderful."

"It's more surprising that I managed to surprise you at all, my darling psychic."

She laughed. Then we stood there in comfortable silence, savoring the embrace and the reflection of the jewel shimmering around Alice's neck. I'd been dead on about the color; it matched the beauty of her eyes perfectly, but of course could not overshadow it.

Her fingers lifted to graze over the design caressing the gemstone — the very design that was the catalyst for the purchase.

I sensed the question in her before she could ask it.

"It's a symbol," I whispered, "meaning protection and good luck."

We were in silence again, one less comforting than before. No matter our attempts, some thoughts could not be avoided for long. We only had three more days, maybe less, and it was only yesterday Alice had finally seen Joham on a ship. In her vision, it hadn't been confirmed where he was going, but to us it only seemed obvious...

"Dance with me?" Alice requested suddenly. A second after, the beginning of one of her favorite songs started playing back at the carnival, making me smile.

"Only if you promise me one thing." She looked up at me, silently urging me to continue. "Promise me forever."

Her lips curved up into a gentle smile, but her eyes showed sadness. "Haven't I already—"

"Do you want to dance with me, or not?" I teased as lightly as I could, straightening my posture and clasping my hands behind my back.

Her musical laughter was once again in my ears, and I relished it.

"Forever," she vowed. And as we stared into each other — her, exuding all the affection she held for me; and me, soaking it all in and encompassing her in my love for her — she whispered, "Far beyond it."

I smiled, and she leaned up on her tiptoes and sealed the promise with a kiss, before pulling me into a slow dance.

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><p><strong>I will tell you that I call this chapter the calm before the storm. ;)<strong>

**Thank you for your reviews, favorites, etc.! They make Alice and Jasper feel loved.**


	13. Fooled

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

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><p><strong>.:Emmett's POV:.<strong>

Jasper asked Edward and me to keep a lookout. What better way to do it than on top of the Ferris wheel? Below and around it, mirthful crowds pressed all around the colorful booths where vendors shouted like auctioneers, the candy-striped tents emitted the clanging and cheering of games, and the luridly dressed employees sold treats and twisted balloon animals. The laughter was incessant, permeating through the night, and the carousel music only complimented the sound.

It was a fun looking place. I just wished I could enjoy it with Nessie, Rose, and the rest of our family without having to worry about Alice's threat ambushing us.

From the topmost seat on the ride, I could survey all of the area from a somewhat objective distance. With my eyesight it was easy. Certain pieces of the crowd stood out more — red balloons, a pink bow on top of a blonde head, the huge yellow Teddy bear Jacob had won at the shooting gallery for Nessie.

Then something else caught my attention. Leaning against the popcorn stand, contrasting oddly with the surrounding lightheartedness, was a shadow. It must have been a person, obviously, but he or she stood in the darkness, like they were hiding, like they didn't want to be seen here. Whatever the reason, it was definitely conspicuous.

On the side of the adjacent booth, someone scored a ringer at one of the fair games and bells sounded with flashing lights, illuminating the face of the shadow. I craned my neck so I could get a better glimpse. It was a woman. But before I could get my hopes up that it wasn't either of the men Alice had been seeing, I remembered a girl had already made contact with Alice a week ago, throwing gender right out the window when it came to suspicious people. Then, as I looked harder, I realized there was something off about her, too — a prettier face than the others around her, too still for too long, vaguely descript and unquestionably not human. Her dark eyes were intently focused on something. I followed her gaze to where Rosalie, Edward and Bella were competing in a ring toss game. The vampire, or possibly half-breed, was watching them.

The warm, spring air felt cold all of a sudden.

I dug for my cell phone, flipped it open and pressed '3' and 'Send'. The phone had barely begun ringing when I watched Edward reach for his pocket and take out his cell.

"Emmett?" he answered.

"Bro, there's someone here, a vampire, and she's watching us — or you, Bella, and Rose mainly. Just about dew south from where you're standing."

"I'm aware."

"What's her problem?"

"The one we've been fearing."

"Alice?"

"Yes."

Damn. So it was finally happening then. I scanned the rest of the fair the best I could, but the Ferris wheel had started moving again.

"Does she have any friends?" I asked.

"No." There was a pause. Bella was questioning him about something. "I'll meet up with Jasper; you find the others," he told her, before addressing me again. "Emmett, Jasper and Alice are by the lake."

"Meet you there."

* * *

><p><strong>.:Alice's POV:.<strong>

The moonlight shivered in the lake, dancing with the stars. I enjoyed the sight while it could be reflected in the water, as a storm was on its way. There was always some thunder clouds coming in our direction. It wasn't often we had such a beautiful night sky for a view around here. I felt lucky that we managed to see it tonight. Then again, maybe it was another bad omen. A farewell sign. Was this my last chance to gaze up at the moon?

Jasper's fingers traced a strand of my hair from the root to the tip. He felt the worry creeping in me and wanted to erase it. I let him; I didn't want to think about that tonight...

"Oh!" I started, shifting onto my elbow. I guessed it didn't matter what I wanted. "There's someone here," I whispered.

Jasper's body tensed. His arms encased me again, tighter this time, and his eyes narrowed as they peered around us.

"Edward and Emmett are coming. The others will join us soon after, but I _think_ we're splitting up." Jacob blacked out my sight, but I still got flickers of Edward, Bella and I in a car at some later point.

Jasper stood up, pulling me with him. "I'm not for the idea of splitting up," he murmured.

"Who says we are?"

Emmett bounded up to us, Edward by his side. Both boys were alert and ready.

"I've thought about it," Edward admitted, "and splitting up works. Listen, there's more than one person here. I don't know how they know we leave the house, but they don't know where we live — they're here to follow us, to find out. However, they weren't aware of how many of us there are, so they're planning to retreat now that we've spotted them. I say—"

"I thought you said she didn't have any friends?" Emmett interrupted, seeming confused at Edward's information.

Edward blinked at him, then answered, emitting impatience. "I didn't catch them until just now. There are three females all together."

"Females?" Jasper arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Emmett said. "Apparently, Alice's earlier friend is back, or the one she was trying to warn Alice about... Anyway, I spotted her spying on us."

"The point is they're wary of us," Edward said. "They aren't planning on going on the offensive tonight — they're simply watching, as I said. Seeing how many of us there are, and being aware we know they're here, they want to get out of here before we try something. I say the best thing to do is follow their trails; go after them before they can reach the men. And since they're splitting up, we should do the same. We have the greatest advantage right now and we shouldn't waste it. You understand that, Jasper."

Jasper grimaced. "What about Alice? I won't allow her to be lead straight to—"

"I'll take Alice. We'll head back to the house. You know she's safe with me. I figure the rest of you will split up into three groups — one will need your strategy and skill should the situation demand it, one will have Jacob, and one will need Emmett's strength. As I'm the only other one we agreed to be available for Alice, I will take her straight home. Again, they have no idea where we live. I'm worried, though, that in their retreat they may pick up last night's hunting scents, which lead directly back to the house; it's another reason that they should be followed, at least until they get far enough out of the area so we know without a doubt they haven't caught on."

"Why are they splitting into three groups, though?" I asked. My visions were all distorted, or simply nonexistent where these hybrids were involved. For all I knew, there was no point breaking us apart to chase after three half-vampires.

"The females are splitting up themselves," Edward explained. "Confusing us, so we have no idea where they're headed, was their backup plan if they were caught."

_Oh._

Jasper deliberated Edward's words for a moment. Emmett looked between the two, waiting, itching for a fight that most of us hoped never occurred. At the same time, I wondered how much would be spared if my family happened to catch up to the females here and took them down.

"We should consult with Carlisle," Jasper finally said when seeing our father making a quick walk to us.

Carlisle, Esme and Jacob arrived, with Renesmee tucked securely between Bella and Rosalie just behind them.

"What's going on?" Carlisle questioned.

Edward explained the situation and his plan again. "Trust me. It's the best way to go about this. And we have to hurry."

The way he spoke gave us little time to make a decision, but I hoped we made the right one.

In the end, it was agreed upon, albeit reluctantly. Separating the family had never worked in the past, regardless of the fact we were pursuers this time around and not the victims being sought after. It comforted us to know that it would only be for a short amount of time. And Edward was right — we had the advantage when the females weren't here for aggressive attacks and were separated.

What surprised me was that Edward wanted Renesmee to go with Jacob and Bella instead of us.

"The enemy will be less likely to start anything with a werewolf than they would if encountering one of us. They have a wide head start; if they happened upon our hunting trails and were investigating our home when Alice and I arrive, they may react aggressively. But they wouldn't dare with Jacob. Renesmee will be safer with him."

At the time, it seemed unquestionable. Looking back at it now, though, wouldn't that mean I would be safer with Jacob, too.

"You are who they're after," Edward muttered, his tone flat. "It's different."

The rest of the ride home was quiet. I suspected Edward was concentrating as hard as I was. Whoever was at the carnival was definitely a threat to us, which meant we had another lead. My deadline was three days away, though, which made me consider this was the true beginning of the countdown. Every minuscule second mattered now more than ever. Or maybe it could all just end tonight. Was it possible Jasper and Rosalie would catch up with the woman they were chasing out there? Would Emmett, Carlisle and Esme wind up engaging in their own battle? What about Bella and Jacob and little Renesmee? What if Edward was wrong about the half-breeds' plan? What if the man who killed me was out there now?

In my mind, I could see my family running. But with half-breeds, it made my visions sketchy at best. If any member of my family made contact with them, I would not catch it, and what I was seeing could just as easily be them all running _away_, rather than chasing. But then I guessed I'd have to add personalities into the equation — Emmett never ran away. And because of me, neither would Jasper. Realizing this helped me relax some, though my mind was far from idle. Thinking of Edward and I away from the others...

It was funny — I'd spent the past few days preparing myself for a fight, getting ready to defend myself. It never occurred to me that Jasper or Edward or anyone might keep me as far from the battlefield as possible; yet, now, I could see how likely the scenario was.

There wouldn't be any fighting tonight, though, I decided after a while. Edward would have never let Bella and Renesmee near an inkling of a battle if he wasn't there with them.

Finally pulling up the drive, we sped out of the car and raced to the house. It looked unoccupied, the way it should, meaning no half-breed or vampire had crept their way here.

Just as I accepted this, Edward slowed down as we ascended the porch, forcing me to do the same. He stopped in front of the door, head glancing left, then right, then he looked back toward the car, but there was nobody around — I could easily smell that myself. We had no time for me to unravel him today.

"What are you waiting for?" I grabbed the doorknob and pushed past him.

The vision that hit me in that same instant immediately came to life; there was no reaction time, no opportunity to process the shock. The attack was too sudden and, by all accounts, unforeseeably alarming.

Edward yanked me back with tremendous force; I didn't quite make it back through the front door, crashing through part of the wall instead. Throwing me straight off the porch, he had me captive in his arms before I could have blinked, dragging me back toward the road we just came down. I wanted to scream, but what was the point? Nobody else was around, and I was too stunned, the vision too paralyzingly bizarre, and the pressure of Edward's grip on my throat was choking me. I kicked and squirmed against his strong hold, trying to see him, to stop him, to understand what was going on.

But I didn't understand, until it was far too late, that my brother was taking me to the enemy.

That Edward _was _the enemy!


	14. Betrayal

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

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><p><strong>.:Jasper's PoV:.<strong>

Rosalie and I ran through the forest in a quiet pursuit. The wind pushed against us, blowing the scent of the one we were after across our faces.

That was good.

The woman we followed neither sped up nor slowed down since we started the chase; there was never a moment of hesitation or wonder, meaning she most likely hadn't noticed we were after her, and the wind blowing her scent our direction meant it wasn't blowing our scent in hers. If Rosalie and I increased our speed and continued up in the trees, we could stay well enough undetected before we ambushed the half-breed. It would be easy.

_If_ that's what we wanted to do, of course.

Did we _want_ to attack? Would that be the right thing to do? Or did we stick with shadowing the woman until she got far enough out of our territory, perhaps even gaining information on where she and her friends permanently resided?

Decidedly, I figured destroying the woman would lead us nowhere. We would continue trailing her, see what we could come up with. And if the other two females were anything like this one here, Alice wasn't in any danger. The women were clearly doing what Edward had said they were — retreating, not a bit on the offensive, and presumably clueless that they were actually being followed.

Busy with my thoughts, I was slightly startled when my own scent hit my nose, mixed with Emmett's, and with my next couple steps I ran into Esme's and Rosalie's. They were faded scents, but they were there nonetheless; they were what remained from last night's hunting trip.

Rosalie smelled them too.

"Jasper."

"I know."

Edward told us the main purpose of these half-breeds being here tonight was, oddly, to find our house, to discover the location to attack since my family and I guaranteed they wouldn't be able to reach Alice outside of our home, probably. Although them not already knowing was strange — how did they know when any of us left the house if they didn't know where we lived? — I wasn't about to question what Edward heard in their thoughts or waste too much time thinking about whatever their reasoning was; my job was to make sure the spying hybrid never discovered what she wanted.

Yet, there was a perfectly good scented trail that could easily be her ticket, and the woman didn't so much as pause.

Despite all outer appearances, was she actually aware she was being followed?

Or did she just not care? In which case...Edward would have been lying, and that was impossible.

"Do you think this is a trap?" Rosalie asked me.

It was plausible. If the three females' backup plan was to scatter before they ran, to confuse us, then they had obviously anticipated we would search out their scents and pursue. It was impossible to tell what else they might've prepared for. I was already questioning as to whether or not the woman Rosalie and I were trailing was as clueless to our close presence as she was letting on. Half-human or not, I wasn't about to underestimate her hearing, and Rose and I advanced pretty quickly on her before keeping a distance we _assumed_ was far enough away.

However, I had to take into account the other two chases happening.

Carlisle, Emmett and Esme, and Jacob, Bella and Renesmee, were running their own trails. The woman might count on her two other friends to finish what they came here to do. Even though we just caught my family's faded scents, we were far out from the territory around our house, and the other two females could easily be running a lot closer. It wouldn't be too big a leap to say one or both of them were to stop if they found something in their retreat, while this one continued to escape, not finding the need to look further into her findings.

But also, I granted, there could be more enemies out here...

I cleared my head of this, though. Going by Edward's word, there weren't many options to speculate seriously. By their thoughts, we knew these women were alone and their only mission was to gain intel on the enemy. They had a backup plan in order to protect themselves, nothing more; our family would have had the same strategy at the ready.

Being lured into a trap was always plausible, but with Edward's mind reading and my clear path into one's emotions it was very unlikely, in this case.

"Let's keep moving," I finally responded. "But keep your guard up. We can never be too cautious."

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Rosalie nod.

Our pace slowed only a fraction, giving us extra distance, more space to react in case something did happen. The only problem was she was now completely out of our line of sight. I didn't think it would matter much; we still had a great advantage.

As the layer of trees thinned around us, I suddenly realized our caution was pointless after all. I didn't expect the sweet, sugary scent of the half-breed woman to vanish just off the side of a road. The woman had had a car waiting.

And, apparently, it picked up two at a time, because as Rosalie and I stood at the sudden dead end, Bella's group met up with us, the scent of the girl they were after ending in the exact same spot.

Something was off about that. Something just didn't feel right. I felt this was all too predetermined, too precise, yet too incomplete and sloppy, and I didn't know if the cause was them or us.

I wondered about the third female. Was she being picked up, too, in a different location? Was she assigned another purpose? Or was she the driver? She would've had to have been much faster than the other two to pull it off...

The vibration of my cell phone interrupted anymore deliberation. I snatched it out of my pocket quickly. The ID informed me it was Carlisle, and my suspicion of the third female grew.

I flicked my phone on. "Carlisle, what is it?"

His response wasn't what I expected. A sudden chill swept down my spine.

The hell did he mean they were back at the house and nobody was there?

Alice should be... Edward was supposed to...

Rosalie, Bella, Jacob, and Renesmee stared curiously at me, as my mind tried to make sense. My gut clenched uneasily.

"Back to the house," I yelled, back-tracking. "Now!"

* * *

><p><strong>.:Alice's PoV:.<strong>

"Ed...ward!"

I finally found my voice, but it was hard to inhale the air I needed in order to talk when Edward had a choking grip on my throat. It was so degrading being dragged by the neck, but I figured it was the least of my problems.

This was not what I expected. How could it be? Edward attacking me?_ Edward_? It wasn't possible!

And yet...

My feet dug into the ground, dragging, trying to find a sturdy gripping. Every time I nearly had the position I wanted, though, Edward yanked me down again; this time was no different. A hiss slithered out of my clenched teeth as he knocked my chance of escape away with an unnecessary dose of extra strength. I was already at his mercy, body and mind, he didn't need to be so violent.

Thinking of this only threw my mind deeper into this painful confusion.

_Edward! _I shouted in my head, desperately hoping for answers. _What is going on? Where are you taking me? Please!_

He didn't answer.

He never answered!

Nothing made sense. How could Edward be involved in this? Something was seriously wrong, and I tried to look ahead, but there was nothing to see anymore.

_Half-breeds_, I blamed with distaste.

Edward suddenly stopped walking and I froze, wondering why. I noticed we had hit the main road. There was a car humming idly across the street, and I noted that there was someone waiting. I cringed, imagining the worst, thinking it could be more of my family — Bella? Emmett? I couldn't even think Jasper. And although I was far from safe, far from confused or angry, there was a nice sense of relief when the one waiting turned out _not_ to be familiar.

Except, the young female hybrid glaring smugly in my direction did little to relieve anything else.

_Why...?_

The girl opened the back door of the dark blue van and I knew it was meant for me. And Edward.

_Why?_

I made a last ditch effort to break free, but Edward, growling with impatience this time, wrestled me painfully into the vehicle and pinned me down. I got a lungful of air in the process.

"Answer me!" I hissed vehemently, digging my nails in the insides of Edward's arm. He flinched, but otherwise ignored me.

Car doors were slammed and we were speeding down the road, the half-breed girl at the wheel. She looked over her shoulder at me — hissing and struggling — then at Edward.

"If you need help with her, hold on. I'm picking up the others," she said. I scowled at her and her soft, youthful voice; she was too young to be a threat to me. If it wasn't for Edward...

"I got her," Edward said, speaking for the first time since laying out his plan at the carnival...

My thoughts paused, hovering.

No. He couldn't...

Did he _plan_ this?

_This_? From the very beginning?

The car screeched to a halt. Not even a few seconds later was there another person on top of me, keeping me locked down in the backseat. Her eyes were a deadly black. Another half-breed, and she wasn't the only one — the third and final female we had been trying to avoid was in the front passenger seat, her body fully turned toward me, just in case, I guessed. Then, we were speeding off again.

They were fast, I'd give them that. I couldn't believe I was being kidnapped! Of all the ways I pictured this, it was definitely, in no way, like this.

To make matters worse, my captors started praising themselves for making fools of the ones named Cullen, shaming my family as if Edward and I weren't even there. And I supposed one of us wasn't. Because Edward... He helped them do it.

Suddenly, I was appalled. Furious. Absolutely livid. Part of me wondered how we could be so stupid, and yet, the other half of me knew trusting Edward was never a bad thing... until now.

I cursed this whole affair to hell.

"Why!" I screamed, silencing everyone in the car.

Edward cursed in irritation. "You don't shut up, do you?"

"Dammit, Edward! This isn't like you! You're acting the part of the villain, why!"

Edward looked down at me, his eyes narrowed, but I saw the arrogance, the superiority that, although wasn't far from Edward's usual behavior, was never this dark. Then I really looked at him — his face, his eyes...

My hot anger slowly turned to anguish.

"Why?" I repeated in a broken voice. Why was he doing this? What was wrong with him?

I was about to ask, for what felt like the millionth time, and demand an answer, from anyone, but the palm of Edward's hand pressed harder against my throat. My eyes widened when I felt a sharp pain after hearing what sounded like cracking stone.

"Don't kill her yet," one of the girls commanded. She looked like Nahuel. Of course she did. And she was going to bring me to their father, Joham...

Where was Nahuel and Huilen in all of this? I just didn't understand. What was the purpose of wanting me dead?

I was about to switch my focus from Edward to the half-breeds when I realized I used up all the air in my lungs. So much for my questions.

"I'm simply keeping her quiet," Edward responded flatly. He acted like Edward, I realized; he just wasn't, though. I mean, this couldn't be right. This had to be some kind of trick, some kind of illusion. Someone disguised as Edward, even.

Edward smiled fiercely, baring his teeth.

"It's hard to believe, isn't it?" he taunted, with a sickeningly easy smile. "But you've seen it. The outcome is certain. The odds are against you."

The words were so Edward that it made it that much worse. And he was wrong, anyway — there was no way I saw this coming.

To prove it, more to myself than to him, I looked back at the past weeks. I tried to remember specifics: body language, a tone of voice, the shrug of a shoulder, anything familiar. But I remained skeptic.

At least, I did until I remembered my vision of the second vampire who I never could get a clear picture of. I had fought my hardest to concentrate and get a clear picture, but all I ever managed was a blurry image of the back of his reddish-brown head.

Reddish-brown. Bronze.

_Oh my god..._

Edward's wicked smile was back, as I realized it was him all along. He had it planned for days.

In one way or another, Edward was going to betray me.

This tragic wave of emotion heightened when I knew I had seen this days ago. Worse still: he had tried to warn me!

His random memory loss, his extreme mood swings, his suspicious persuasions... and him avoiding me. It all lead to this, even if I didn't know the specifics.

I struggled for a moment, biting the inside of my cheek, until my emotions overcame me and, for awhile, I only felt like sobbing out my confusion and pain. My world had just came crashing down. Everything I thought was untouchable and secure had been stripped clean. The truth had been bared. For whatever reason, my protective brother, my loyal friend, had betrayed me. Whatever had happened to him, whatever was the cause, I wasn't figuring it out, and I couldn't ask, and I knew it was too late to matter now; I just knew this wasn't Edward anymore.

The cruel smirks, the hatred... Such cold, uncaring eyes... I saw it all. Everything good about him no longer existed.

Edward Cullen was gone — the boy before me was an enemy; he wanted me dead.

I closed my eyes, giving myself a break from the unsettling sight and a moment to get a hold of myself.

Carlisle had said to keep an open-mind, it could be anybody; I doubted any of us had even entertained the thought that it could be among our own family.

The odds had always been against me. From the very moment they brought Edward into this, I never stood a chance.

But I knew, despite being unfairly against someone I loved, I couldn't go down without a fight, because there was someone I loved infinitely more. The gemstone around my neck suddenly felt heavier, like it carried the weight of my promise to Jasper, my vow to fight.

Opening my eyes, I met those that once belonged to my brother, and I firmed my gaze.

I didn't know how long we were driving, I didn't know how far we were going, and I didn't know if I had any chance at all to escape. But I knew I would not make this trip easy for them.

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><p><strong>Your reviews are so appreciated, and so fun. I see everyone just <em>loved<em> the ending to the last chapter... You guys really like dropping f-bombs. lol**


	15. Coincidence

**Thank you for reviewing! Makes me smile. :]**

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><p><strong>CHAPTER FOURTEEN<strong>

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><p><strong>.:Jasper's PoV:.<strong>

When I burst into the yard, the first thing I saw was a gaping hole by the front door, as if something had been too big to fit through the frame but forced its way through anyway. Aside from that, everything else looked intact. Emmett was standing alert on the porch, while Carlisle and Esme were inside, murmuring to each other in quiet, anxious voices; they were on the verge of panic.

Just as Carlisle had informed me over the phone, Alice was not here. Neither was Edward.

Rosalie, Bella, Jacob, and Renesmee suddenly sprinted into the yard, catching up to me. Their eyes widened in concern when they saw the damage.

"What happened here?" Bella questioned with alarm in her tone.

Emmett's eyes were on me as I ascended the porch steps; he already understood I wanted everything he knew.

"We hadn't even chased our half-breed for ten minutes before her scent vanished. There were tire tracks, so we assumed she took off in a larger sized car. And of course we followed the tracks, but once they hit the pavement of the main road there was no evidence left to go on. She was fast," he admitted reluctantly, displeased with himself more than anything. "We decided to join up with Edward and Alice here. We came home to this exact scene. Edward's car is in the drive, and it looked like they made it to the entry..." He trailed off, looking around him, just as I did. He didn't need to finish what he was saying — it was obvious something had happened the moment they walked through the front door.

"They were ambushed or they had to leave quickly," I concluded immediately, holding my head up to sniff the air.

"Yeah, well, that's what we thought, too. But this is where it gets weird..."

Esme stepped forward to explain, not giving me a chance to make wild assumptions. "We checked the entire house and the perimeter. There is no other scent. Edward and Alice were the only two in the area when the scuffle happened."

I couldn't be sure about the surrounding area, but she was right about the house. I could smell nothing new; just my family.

"That doesn't make any sense," I said, brow furrowed.

There was an ominous silence that passed. Nobody understood this. Edward and Alice were supposed to be here — they weren't. Only some sort of struggle could have caused the damage done to the house — there was no evidence that a third party was involved. I felt myself beginning to edge into panic with the rest of them.

"Something bad happened," Bella said, breaking the silence with the obvious.

Someone had to have been here, to either fight them or force them to run.

"Are there any fresh trails of Edward or Alice?" I asked, already moving to check myself. I was on the opposite end of the house when I heard Emmett's answer.

"One. It leads from the house to the main road. I didn't think much of it since it ended there and there were only two scents — Edward's and Alice's. I thought they just walked back to the house." He paused, and then spoke a second option, one that my mind had just came up with as well. "Now I'm thinking there was a car waiting for them, too, just like the half-breeds." I heard his grumbled curse and felt his frustration.

There was a bark from Jacob, followed by a low whine which seemed, if I heard right, to be in the tone of a question. Edward would have been helpful for translating. Luckily, Bella seemed to understand this one.

"But...they would have had to be forced into that car, somehow, right? They wouldn't have gone willingly."

I walked swiftly back around the house, just in time to see Jacob nod his agreement.

"Maybe whoever it was had an ability which allowed them to mask themself?" Esme suggested.

"What other possibility is there?" Rosalie said. "A vampire with a talent is more probable than anything else."

"I am equally concerned that there was more than one adversary," Carlisle said with a deepening frown. "To take on Alice _and _Edward..."

I agreed. "One lone vampire with a gift to hide his or her smell doesn't have what it takes to manage that." _Unless..._ "Unless they were threatened in some way. Or we were. If Alice foresaw it, then predicted a way to prevent it..."

No. I didn't want to dwell too much on this. It didn't matter, anyway. Even if it made no sense how, they _were_ gone, and we had no choice left but to find them. I told my family this, heading back inside at top speed, grabbing the first set of car keys my hands touched.

"Where would we start?" I froze. "There are no scents, and even if there were, it's about to rain. We don't know where they're being taken — we don't even have a vague guess. Let's face it. They've basically vanished."

A growl rumbled in my chest as I turned only my eyes on Rosalie.

"You'd give up on them? Lack of information would completely stop you from trying?"

Rosalie's expression shifted; she was incredulous. "Don't insult me. I am just being logical. If we rush off, we could search the entire planet and not find them, let alone find them before..." Instead of finishing, she gave an irritated huff.

I tightened my grip on the keys, for the first time feeling an influx of helplessness. I would run to the garage, hop in the car these keys belonged to, drive to the highway, and then what? Where would I go from there?

"See? You don't have a plan, do you?"

Instead of letting Rose's words get me riled, I accepted them. Acting reckless would not save Alice. Essentially, we needed a semblance of a plan, something — anything — to go by if we didn't want to be driving around aimlessly.

I thought back, starting from the days of her ostensible cheerfulness that couldn't quite conceal her fear, to her heart-wrenching shriek which lead to her confession, and ending with my memories of just this morning when she insisted everything would be fine if we went to the carnival. I ran each moment through my head, rounding up each detail from her visions and every debate from our research, just hoping there was something there to base my next move on.

"We have until daylight," I started to say, slowly picking out bits and pieces to distribute to my family. "Alice was sure it was daytime in her visions. It could even mean we have over twenty-four hours, if they were forced to wait another day for Joham; only yesterday did Alice see the man on a ship. He wouldn't have made port yet. I'm positive their destination is a wood mill of some sort. We'll go off that."

"But Alice said she already checked the three closest-"

"Then we'll go farther! I'm sorry, Esme," I apologized, even though I knew she didn't take my abruptness to heart, "but it's all we know for certain, and time isn't on our side. We'll split up— Yes, I know the risks involved. However, if we want to cover each location then it's the only thing to do. Even having just one of us find her is enough to change the outcome."

"She has Edward," Bella said, none too pleased, but still confident that his presence was significant.

"We don't know for sure how that will affect anything. We have to take action as if this is Alice's last resort. We can't simply have faith that a miracle will happen." _If only._ "In this way, we can move most efficiently."

"This still doesn't tell us where to start!" Rosalie insisted. I had to remind myself her anger was merely a cloak for her anxiety. "We split up in seven different directions toward random factories? Even if we stayed in this state, do you realize how many there could be?"

"There are four, to be precise," Carlisle interrupted smoothly, capturing our attention. I hadn't realized he made a trip inside, but he had a laptop resting in one hand, now, while his other hand navigated swiftly across the keyboard. "There are four in this state that are our farther toward the Atlantic, where we presume Joham's ship is to dock, correct?" He glanced at me briefly, and I nodded. "It also seems that one of them Alice has already informed us of, leaving three left. Although, if this is our only option, we should re-investigate the fourth."

"Wouldn't expect anything less." I nodded again, eager to leave, now. I was putting a lot of faith into this barely permissible strategy, and by the frustration evident on Carlisle's face and in his emotions, so was he. It would be ridiculous to believe we had a strong advantage (_any_ advantage). I couldn't believe we let this happen. We screwed this up, just like I was afraid we would. If only we had gotten in contact with Nahuel; if only we had never went to that damn carnival; if only I had tried harder! I should've never left Alice's side in the first place.

But this was no time to face any guilt I — or anyone else — harbored. I was already losing my mind over the absence of Alice. We had to act immediately.

"Let's move—"

"Wait!"

Emmett's urgent voice lashed out, snapping us all on alert. He was staring down the curved length of our driveway.

"Here that?"

We quieted. Around the beating hearts of Renesmee and Jacob, less than half a mile away was the sound of crunching gravel. Two sets of feet were heading this way.

The tense anticipation that rolled off every member of my family was palpable. I could literally feel our senses stretching, reaching along with our hopes that the two people we were missing were returning to us. Perhaps all our worrying was for nothing. Maybe the mess in the house was misinterpreted.

But the logical part of me knew better.

Just as I suspected, when the scents finally hit, neither belonged to Alice or Edward. One was unrecognizable; the other was familiar. At first I thought I was subconsciously getting my hopes high again; but, no, I could unmistakably place a name. It shocked me.

"No way..." Emmett murmured in the same disbelief the rest of us felt.

Recognition and surprise emanated all around me. It was Renesmee's piercing whisper which spoke our thoughts out loud.

"It's Nahuel!"

After exchanging a curious, yet wary glance with Carlisle, he passed the laptop over to Esme and stepped forward, standing between Emmett and me, while Bella grabbed Renesmee and joined Esme and Rosalie on the porch. Jacob was content standing off to the side, which was fine. Nobody said a word.

What was this? What was happening now? If this was some random act of fate, was it the good kind, or some twisted circumstance that would only add to our ill fortune?

"Nahuel." Carlisle greeted neutrally, once the boy stepped foot in our yard. He slowed his pace, only stopping once he was a few feet away.

"Hello, Carlisle. Cullens."

"It's nice to see you again; although, I'm afraid you've come at a bad time..." Carlisle hesitated, because, as if by pure chance, it was also the perfect time. We had needed Nahuel, but he shouldn't know that. If Nahuel was here by his own initiative, then the question was: what did he know?

"I would hate to be right," Nahuel sighed, "but I assume it has something to do with your Alice."

My instincts took over. I was suddenly face-to-face with the young hybrid.

"She's missing," I informed him darkly. "Been taken by force. If you have any knowledge regarding who has my wife and where they're taking her, it'd be best if you tell us."

"Edward's also been taken," Carlisle added solemnly.

Nahuel looked from me, to my adoptive father, and then to the female by his side. I was vaguely aware that it wasn't Huilen. In fact, this young woman was half-human, too. One of his sisters.

"It's quite a coincidence," I said, eyeing the girl, "that you would show up here so suddenly."

Only when Nahuel looked back at me did I notice a change in him. It's only been a few months since we last saw him, yet there was such a distinction between the softness that used to be in his eyes versus the darkness in them now; they were unforgiving. Not toward me or my family, I noted by his emotions, but he was clearly tremendously upset with somebody.

"My sister Jennifer and I... We came to warn you. But it seems we are too late."

"Barely too late," I corrected, which was exactly my suspicion. "Just an hour earlier and you would have been helpful."

There was a short silence. I was sure everyone was aware of the distrust encasing this meeting. If Nahuel was surprised or hurt by my family's blatant uncertainty, he didn't show it.

"You must have already gathered my other sisters are behind this," he finally said. "From your perspective, I can see how my appearance might be hard to accept. But a coincidence is truly all this is. I was informed her abduction would be anytime this week. I came as fast as I could. Luck hasn't been on my side lately, it seems. Your caution is understandable." His expression saddened. "There is not much time, but I will answer your questions."

I sensed no deception from him, so I eased off slightly and nodded once to Carlisle, sensing that he was wondering my opinion on Nahuel's honesty. It was hard for all of us, not being able to completely trust our former ally; but it was even harder to ignore his father's and his sisters' part in this personal attack against our family, against my Alice, against me.

"You said you were informed of Alice's deadline," I started. "By who?"

Nahuel gestured beside him. "Jennifer." Before I could ask the obvious followup question, he continued. "Jennifer knows all about the plot, because she was dragged into helping along with the others."

I didn't know what my expression or anyone else's changed to, but Jennifer felt the sudden need to speak on her own behalf.

"I'm not on their side anymore," she assured quickly. "I don't agree with them. I ditched them to find Nahuel, because I knew he was the only one not on their side, too."

So many questions...and I didn't even think I cared anymore. The only thing that kept me here, listening, was the possibility that they knew something useful for saving Alice.

"What's the story, exactly?" Emmett asked, just as impatient as I was. It felt good to know I wasn't the only one on the brink of uprooting a tree.

"I shall explain the situation," Nahuel said.

"Quickly, I hope," I retorted. I hope it came out as nicely as I had meant it.

Nahuel nodded, complying.

"Months ago, you faced a problem with the Volturi which brought Alice and Jasper to find me and my aunt. The day they found us, the eldest of my sisters was searching for us, too. She was stopping by for a visit, one of many she makes as a favor to our father. My sister arrived just in time to overhear what I was planning on doing, that _Alice_ was taking me to confront the world renowned Volturi to rat out our father. This did not please her. Serena is very close to Joham. She was the only one of us raised by him-"

"So, your sister told Joham what you were doing." I jumped in with my assumption, guiding Nahuel back to what was important. I didn't want to hear of their family problems. We didn't need any more detail than what was absolutely necessary. It might've been rude, I admitted, but I was impatient. Alice was in danger, along with Edward. If we had any time for stories, we had little.

"Yes," Nahuel said, not at all phased by my bitter interruption. Maybe, somehow, he understood. "It took her a while to find him. By the time she did, of course, our encounter with the Volturi had already past. Joham was furious. He found us — my aunt and me — and accused me of being a traitor despite that I had always expressed my distaste for him. He was well aware my loyalties only lied with Huilen and my sisters."

He paused briefly. When he continued, his eyes hardened and his voice lowered.

"I don't know if an apology would have been enough for him or if I should have begged. I _did_ try to; I pleaded with him and I fought him... But he killed her."

"Huilen?" Esme gasped, stepping toward Nahuel automatically, wishing to comfort.

"Yes," he answered. His grief and hatred doubled. "Joham said that her death was my punishment. It was not fair... But what is?"

Despite the circumstances of our meeting, my memories of Huilen were fond ones. She was a strong woman with admirable character. And her end... Well, I would not let it happen to Alice.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Nahuel," Carlisle said, genuinely sympathetic.

"She was like a mother to me," he responded, eyes downcast. "It is hard to believe she is gone, and that, like my biological mother's death, it was my fault." He held a hand up before Esme could say anything. Then he sighed. "Now, let me apologize to you."

"What for? You can't control Joham's actions," Bella said.

"No. You are right — I can't. But this is the part in my story where I assisted him."

Nobody said anything for a moment. My eyes narrowed, trying to understand, because, aside from not having any other choice, I did want to trust Nahuel, fully.

"Let me explain. Before Joham took my aunt's life, he bargained with it. If I told him what I knew of your family — why you were in trouble with the Volturi, who this little Alice was and what made her coven so strong — then he would spare her. I didn't want to, I tried to tell him as little as possible but he wanted everything. And I needed to protect my aunt's life..." Another sigh. "I hoped that no matter what I said I would still be able to warn you all before Joham could act on whatever he was sure to plan; he is a very thorough man, obsessive, so I assumed he would spend a lot more time than he did plotting it out precisely.

"But Huilen's death hindered me. I spent too long in shock, in mourning, and Joham acted quickly, knowing the Volturi were now after him. He used my four sisters to help him. They didn't know any better. Truly, they didn't."

The girl — Jennifer — cut in, taking over.

"I'm so, so sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am. I felt something was off about my dad's orders but I waited too long to act against them. When I tried to warn Alice, Maysun got in the way."

"That was you Alice saw," I noted.

"Yes. I was trying to tell her she was in trouble; though, she already suspected as much. I wish I had been faster. I feel terrible."

"As do I," Nahuel added. "Alice... All of you do not deserve this. Without me, you likely would not be at this disadvantage. If I had known he would have killed her anyway...I would not have given him any information at all."

I wanted to be angry at him. I wanted so badly to hold it against him and be furious, for it would take focus off the pain I was feeling, the fear of loss, the anger I felt toward Joham. I wanted an excuse that would deem my feelings against Nahuel right, but the rational side of me told me I was wrong to wish anything of the sort. I knew I couldn't hold it against Nahuel. Huilen was his family, was his mother — she was all he had. It was hard to imagine someone holding Esme as a hostage, her life on the line, and I not cooperating if there was no other choice. Even if it meant spilling a friend's weakness, I would have done it in the same fashion Nahuel had — with fierce hope that the friend could still be protected later.

It was tough to hold onto temper with someone who I could empathize with so perfectly.

But if I let go of temper, despair might creep in.

Sighing, I stated quietly, "Yes you would've. You would've done everything to protect her, no matter what. We can't hold that against you."

"You did the best you could Nahuel," Carlisle said. "And you, as well, Jennifer."

The girl gave a small smile. A weight was lifted off her chest, but there could be no relief until Alice and Edward were found — there just couldn't.

"However," Carlisle continued, his voice hardening with authority without losing its merciful gentleness, "two of my children have been taken. Time is of the essence. You came to share your information with us, so I ask that you, please, do it now."

Jennifer stepped forward. "I can answer best, since I played a more hands-on role. But first..." She trailed off, suddenly nervous.

"What?" I nearly growled when she paused for a whole five seconds.

"Well, you seem like the type of vampires who would do anything to save another from your coven."

"We're a family," Bella corrected, and Jennifer nodded, expressing she meant no offense.

"It's just... How far are you willing to go, exactly? What if the enemy isn't who you expected? You're prepared to fight my family, but are you prepared to fight your own?"

Esme's concern spiked. "Our own?"

"See, my sister's and I... well, there are only four of us. And then our father. Joham's plan was to not have one; he left all the decisions to us, because Alice couldn't see us. So, there were only four of us here, and when I ran away to find Nahuel, that lowered their numbers to three."

"Hold up," Emmett said. "There's nobody else involved?"

"No."

"Alice said there was another guy, full vampire."

"How would they have kidnapped Edward and Alice, if there was nobody else?" Bella asked. "We were chasing all three of your sisters."

Nahuel and Jennifer looked at each other. I felt their sympathy, almost like they pitied us.

"I'm afraid my sisters have been using one of your own against you."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Our newest sister — Nadia," Nahuel said, as if that explained everything. "I actually very recently learned about her existence. Joham sheltered her. She was the first of us to be born with a special ability. Its strength is still being tested, yet even now it is...immeasurable." He shook his head, as if in awe of such a power.

"What can she do?" I asked flatly. The way Nahuel spoke of it made me wary.

Jennifer answered me.

"The best way to describe it would be mind control. But it's a lot more complicated, for Nadia. It starts out slowly and she has to be relatively close, then once she grasps the tenor of a person's thoughts, she changes them. The victim will still be themselves, but they'll think differently, and they won't ever realize something is wrong. The longer she is connected to them and the stronger she pushes them, the harder it is to break, the longer it takes to wear off. And when Nadia is no longer in their head, we've learned they don't remember much, if anything. I think it's scary. As long as she is in reach of a person's mind, it is hers. That's why... That's why Edward was not kidnapped."

It took a moment, our brains not wanting to grasp the implication being thrown at us, but we all understood at the same time, our minds clicking all at once. Behind me, two people gasped as if in pain, while another hissed. When Emmett's voice rang out, he sounded as if the idea was impossible, unthinkable.

"Edward wasn't kidnapped — he was the kidnapper!"

My thoughts went into turmoil. This couldn't be right. I didn't want to believe this.

"Gaining control of Edward," Jennifer started again, "was our first task. We were careful, and Nadia was determined to prove her worth to our dad. She's been slowly connecting to him for weeks. It was his job to lure Alice away from the house, or to force her, whichever was necessary."

"It... It explains why there was no other scent," Rosalie said quietly, after the stunned silence wore off. "And Edward... He was also the person who suggested everything and convinced us we were wrong... He set everything up this way — made sure we didn't move, relentlessly blamed the Volturi, convinced us to let him take Alice home alone, splitting the rest of us up... He was playing us all."

"No! Edward would never do that!"

"Bella, I am afraid there is simply no other explanation."

"But, Carlisle, it's Edward!"

Carlisle spoke calmly, though his distress was poignant. "If what Jennifer says is true about Edward's mind being controlled, then it is believable. But that does not make him any less stolen from us than Alice. We must act to bring them both home safely."

All this time, could it have really been Edward?

My thoughts drifted back to the words he said to me the day we were stuck inside the Science Lab:

_"You know I wouldn't let anything happen to Alice. If it came down to it, I'd put my existence on the line for her. She's my sister. And you are my brother."_

Were the words he spoke from his heart? Were they my brother, or were they spoken as a lie from the enemy in order to guarantee my trust?

It made me sick thinking of him like this. This was all wrong. And yet, thinking back, Rosalie was right; Edward was the source of our problems. He was the reason no matter where we wanted to go, no matter what we wanted to do, the enemy was always there. It was because of him that Alice's vision never changed; we couldn't get away from him. He had doomed her.

With a sickening twist in my gut, I realized the second man had always been Edward. The answer was there all along and our minds swept right over it. Edward was against us at such an early point. It was so easy for him to do, too.

_"We have the greatest advantage right now. You understand that, Jasper."_

Dammit! Edward knew us better than anyone else — our thoughts, our feelings, our personalities. He used my tactician mind against me. He knew how to manipulate the situation, to come up with a story and a thorough plan to 'protect' Alice that I could only praise and agree to. There was no way I wouldn't have trusted my brother. And, now, I didn't know whether it was right for me to hate myself for placing my confidence in him too easily or not.

Why hadn't I caught something was wrong? How did I not even think that something like this could happen? In a time before I belonged to this family, I wouldn't have been so blind to this line of attack, I was sure of it. This was a near flawless strategy, a weakness in a group of vampires with such loyal bonds. It was perfect. And I had let my guard down when my eyes should have been open to this.

Nobody should have been off limits from my suspicions when it came to Alice's safety.

The Cullens should not have been trusted without question.

A shrill cry erupted behind me, hitting my ears at the same time its source's sorrow stabbed through my back, straight into my heart. Renesmee's painful cry sharply yanked me out of my thoughts. Crystal water droplets gushed from her eyes. She was being hugged and comforted by three sets of hands and a wolf's snout before she could get too far into it, but whether she stopped her weeping or not, her emotions were clear. It was heartbreaking to have the little girl in such a state. How was someone so young perceiving this mess?

Watching my niece, I sighed.

What was I doing blaming my loyalty to this family for what's happened?

"I am sorry, Cullens," Nahuel said once Renesmee quieted down. "But do know that it is not your Edward's fault. Nadia is controlling him, and ultimately so is Joham."

"Don't you see?" Bella whispered, her head buried in her daughter's bronze curls. "It's not just vengeance — it's betrayal. In Joham's eyes, Alice made Nahuel betray him. Now he's going to inflict that on Alice with Edward."

"If he wanted the ultimate betrayal," Rosalie wondered hesitantly, yet curious, "why didn't he use Jasper?"

Just the thought made my body shake in absolute disgust.

"Edward's mind-reading," Esme responded, forlorn.

Carlisle nodded, his expression grave. "Edward would have realized and stopped it if anyone else was being manipulated. And having his gift on your side is an unquestionable asset. Furthermore, I'm sure they knew we looked to Edward, because of his gift, for information and guidance regarding opposition. They knew we would trust him."

And trust him we did.

Thunder rolled across the sky, and it started to rain. My teeth ground together, as my fury ignited again. I was done thinking about this, done gathering the 'why?'.

"Where did they take her?"

The two half-breeds I was questioning turned to me, looking uncertain, and I had had enough uncertainty.

"Where is she?" I demanded again, raising my voice in a way I hadn't done since the wars. They seemed to shrink where they stood. I didn't care if they were intimidated, they were going to answer the question. "Where?"

"Um, to the east," Jennifer stammered out. "There are two wood mills we specifically picked out. Good, spacious buildings for Joham's purpose, and always less chance of humans interfering. One is on Wilmur Road; the other's just off Topeka. We weren't making the decision until we had Alice, so I don't know which one they chose."

"Esme — the laptop." As she handed it over to me, I asked one final question, keeping deadly calm. "Do you have any idea when time might run out?"

"If my sisters have already executed Alice's capture, you will have no more than twelve hours. And that's hoping."

That was all I needed to hear. Before anyone had a chance to say another word to me, I was flying toward the garage. I jammed the keys into the ignition, revved the engine, shifted the gear into Drive, and was gone. My family could catch up. And if they couldn't, oh well. I'd win this fight on my own; Joham or Edward — it didn't matter. I was going to save her.


	16. Deadline

**This chapter turned out so much longer than I thought it would! I think it's the most edited and re-edited chapter of any of my stories, which is why I'm posting it two days after the day I originally intended to post it. Sometimes it sucks being a perfectionist, doesn't it?**

**As always, thank you, all you reviewers! And I hope you like this chapter.**

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><p><strong>CHAPTER FIFTEEN<strong>

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><p><strong>.:Jasper's PoV:.<strong>

The overwhelming suspense I felt had already grown to its peak as I zipped through the sleeping town with the windows down. The wind against my face usually relaxed me, pleased me, cleared my mind — tonight was a chilling exception. Even where I stood now, in the center of a fork in the road, between two highway onramps, cursing the warehouses Jennifer named for being in opposite directions. The luxury to guess which direction Alice was taken in was something I didn't have. If I took the highway south, I'd end up in one; if I went north, I could make it to the other. But I only had time to go one way. If I made the wrong decision, Alice would be lost.

Rain fell around me, soaking the ground and my spirit. I knew I shouldn't be standing here. I knew I had no time to waste.

I was suddenly reminded of the carnival, where I watched kids swirling above the crowd in suspended swings, the machine pulling them faster, faster, up and down in circles until the smaller children looked like they were ready to throw up. I knew exactly how they felt now. Nausea wasn't a feeling I'd experienced since becoming an immortal, and yet, here it was, intensely present.

Letting my own mate be taken right out from under me was something I'd never forgive myself for. The fact it was our own brother who did the stealing made the hit harder to deal with. Edward wasn't the type of guy who would intentionally hurt Alice or me. But the truth, now, was that Edward did fight her, steal her, and quite literally would kill her.

Clenching my fists, I could only repeat the promise I had made Alice to protect her. I swore to her I would defend her with my life, with whatever soul I had. Yet, it every word felt like a lie now. How could I do that to her?

And Edward — how could he?

Glancing at my watch, I approximated six hours left. There was only six hours until sunrise and, possibly, Alice's deadline. Along with a battle against Edward that my gut warned me was inevitable. Of course, at the moment, I truly felt the need to tear a limb off him. How could Edward let himself be controlled this way? He had a sixth sense much stronger than mine. Didn't he hear Nadia's thoughts? Couldn't he realize something was off? Why didn't he break out of it? I had little understanding of how potent Nadia's talent was, but I didn't care. Alice's hours of life were limited, and he and I failed to help her avoid this. We were both being played and I held no appreciation for that.

_What if fighting wasn't enough?_ a voice in the back of my head inquired, dreading the very idea that the only option I'd have was to destroy Edward. Could I do that?

As angry as I was at him, it hurt me to know that I think I could, if it came down to that.

I seriously hoped it didn't.

I'd have to deal with whatever came our way later, however. I didn't have time to stand around here pitying our lives and fearing for our futures. I had to make a decision. I had to move, in one direction or the other.

I wound back around to the car, which had been humming, idle, behind me. I was inside, reaching to close the door, when I spotted something. It was laying in the soggy dirt just off the side of the onramp leading south: a dark blue van door, its window shattered, its frame bent nearly in half, as if something punched the center of it with major force. But what held my attention was not the kicked out door; just next to it was something I recognized instantly, and I was out in the rain again, gaping down at it incredulously. It was a thin, silver chain holding a shimmering yellow pendant.

Alice's necklace sat face-up in the grass, practically glowing because of its whiteness. I picked it up, remembering when I gave it to her and she promised me forever. The only way she would misplace this was if there was a struggle. This busted car door was Alice's doing, of that I was instantly certain. Even faced with death, Alice had never lacked a backbone. She obviously gave them a hard time. Her persistence not only filled me with pride, it also unintentionally left a bread crumb.

My determination sparking, I finally made the decision Alice's life depended on.

I slid the necklace into my pocket and glared at the southern horizon.

* * *

><p><strong>.:Alice's PoV:.<strong>

I was in a room. It was dimly lit — the only source of light was the windows, lined high on the wall, closer to the ceiling. Dust layered the objects around me. Sawdust.

I knew this room like I knew my closet; I had seen it so many times, had organized every detail in my head. What I wasn't expecting, however, was this wood mill being one I visited before. The three I had gone to investigate in my quest for answers I deemed the wrong places. But this was definitely the second one I went to. There was that laser machine, just as I saw it in my vision; it was brand new, so no wonder it wasn't here when I first checked this place out. How like my luck.

Standing around me, guarding me for what felt like a very long time now, were my three half-breed captors — Serena, Nadia, _Maysun_. Serena was the one in charge, the one the others listened to. She glared at me the most, among the three; but more than her, it was the vampire silently standing just behind Nadia. His cold golden eyes pained me, conflicted me.

_Edward..._

I had tried to fight back, but with Edward able to read my thoughts, any move I made did no good. He was always there, thwarting my plans. And if I was being honest with myself, just his dark presence was enough to hinder me. How could I just escape and leave him behind? What would happen to him? Would they punish him for letting me get away? Would he never be returned to the family? Even being the enemy, I felt obligated to stay with my brother, to protect him. And after realizing I felt this way, I stopped struggling, I went along quietly, obediently to the wood mill we waited in now, while still desperately clinging to the hope that there was a way for me to escape my fate, as futile as it might be to plot with Edward around.

Inwardly, I sighed.

How was I going to save my own life without sacrificing Edward's?

"Trying anything will be pointless."

I ignored Evil Edward and continued plotting.

"Stay where you are, Alice Cullen," Maysun ordered. It was incredibly tempting to take just one step to the side in rebellion. If only I was in a mood to; also, I didn't think it would be wise to evoke any more hate from these girls, in case there was still some left to give after the car ride here. Instead, I decided to ask a question that's been on my mind since my capture.

"Where's your other sister?"

Maysun, Nadia, and Serena met my gaze with various looks. But mostly more hate.

"How did you know about Jennifer?"

"Nadia!" Serena hissed. The younger girl bowed her head, though her curiosity remained in tack.

"Nahuel said he had four sisters," I lied. "I was just wondering why she wasn't here." More so, I was remembering the half-breed who caught me off guard in that flood. What was her role in all this?

Serena huffed. "Tsk. Nahuel is a fool."

"He's probably where she ran off to," Maysun told her sister. "She's always running off to him."

"They don't agree with this..." Nadia murmured, tilting her head toward Serena, who only shook her head, refusing to move further into this topic.

As I listened, I considered edging my way toward the exit while they were distracted, but a quick glance at Edward told me I was staying right where I was. As if in agreement with this assessment, Edward narrowed his eyes.

I looked back at the sisters, taking note of their short, but telling, conversation. So, Nahuel and the girl who had tried to warn me were against this whole thing. That was interesting, though not at all helpful. Still, I wondered...

"Why are you doing this? Why do you allow Joham to use you?"

Maysun frowned. "He is not using us. We follow him willingly."

"Then you betray your own siblings."

"They turned their backs on us!" Serena snapped. "Joham is our father. Without him, none of us would exist. Those who betray family are scum." She smiled, then. "Isn't that right, Edward?"

When he nodded, I felt a wave of frustration. "What about _you_?" I demanded, scowling at him.

He didn't even have to think about it. "You are no longer part of my family. And soon you will be gone from this world entirely — I'll see to that myself."

Something sharp ripped through me at his words. It was painful. I felt tortured. What made it worse was not knowing why I was the only one who felt this way. What corruption has happened to my brother?

Sadly, I turned away from an Edward I didn't know, looking back at the sisters. Serena was the only one with her eyes still on me. Her mocking expression infuriated me more than I liked to admit. She acted as if I deserved this.

Nadia gasped suddenly, as Maysun straightened.

"He's here," they announced together.

An unpleasant feeling unraveled in my stomach. I didn't need to guess who 'he' was. Suddenly, it was like I could feel death — feel it like it was all around me, creeping in. This was what I had been dreading. I waited, listening for his approach, trying to decide where he would come in. Irrationally, I wondered if I wouldn't even see him — he'd just swoop in and snap my neck. But no, that was... that was _Edward's_ job. It was hard to take, really, and I still didn't know what to do about that. But, still, I knew by my visions that Joham was going to at least grant me a 'Hello' and, quite possibly, a 'Goodbye', in a tone I always envisioned as heartless.

Taking a deep breath in an effort to stay calm, I closed my eyes and imagined Jasper. I longed for his warmth, his love, his ideas, his protection... My hand reached up to my neck, searching for the symbol that represented my eternal safety — his wish for me, and my motivation. But my fingers never found it. I pushed my eyelids open and stared down at my bare chest. My necklace was gone! I must have lost it during—

A latch clicked, a window opened and a rush of air swept through the wide room, sending sawdust flying in every direction, as a pair of feet hit the floor with a graceful thud, right behind me.

My cold body iced over in chills. My breath cut short, and I stopped breathing altogether. I didn't move — I couldn't.

"Ah, you must be Alice."

There was nothing about this voice that I wasn't familiar with. My visions had captured him to perfection. It was terrifying in them, and now, hearing the deep voice echo off the walls, knowing he was finally right behind me, just feet away, turned the nightmare of him into a reality.

"I must tell you, dear, that I was anticipating our meeting. I have been waiting quite some time for this. It is a relief to know my daughters have succeeded in bringing you here. You are a lot smaller than I imagined. But even I know size can be a very clever deception."

Deception? I didn't get it. He was the one deceiving people. I still didn't even know what I did to be targeted by this man in the first place.

"Tell me, Alice," he breathed, "how does it feel to be betrayed by your own brother?" His voice was slow and thick, his breath suddenly so close to the back of my neck that I hissed and jumped forward to get away.

Finally, I turned enough to see his face. Red eyes were intent on me, deadly, and lower was a smirk I knew well.

I wanted to blink and shake my head, and wake up in reality because, surely, this had to be just another vision, just another warning of what my future would look like if I didn't do something to change it. This couldn't be real yet. Time couldn't be up already.

"Such strange yellow eyes," Joham mused to himself. Then, after giving Edward the same peculiar once-over, he looked back to me and waited for something, which I assumed was an answer to his question. Rather than answering, I asked my own.

"What have you done to Edward?"

Joham stared at me curiously for a moment, then clicked his tongue, before replying, "You are in no position to ask questions. But I will humor you. I was blessed with a bit of luck when Nadia was born. Her gift of thought manipulation has really paid off." Sudden understanding made my eyes flicker to Edward. "Fortunately, it seems I created her in the nick of time. It's baffling how sudden things can change. If someone came up to me a year ago and warned me that my only son would be sought out and turned against me, I would have questioned their sanity." Joham had his finger to his chin, thoughtful, as he took a single step toward me. I stepped back. Something sparked in his eyes and he smiled. "But you needed Nahuel for your own selfish purposes, did you not? Such a tragic betrayal..."

Alright, I understood how that might make the man upset. But he had no one but himself to blame for Nahuel's choice. And what did any of it have to do with me?

"My son has always been difficult in some ways," Joham continued, "but he was beginning see things the way I do, I am positive. Little by little... If only _you_, Alice, had let him be. Do you see how much destruction you've caused?"

"Me?" Was it possible to be _more_ confused? "It is absurd to think I play any part in Nahuel's—"

"Don't be so ignorant!" Serena yelled at me. "You bred a half-human child irresponsibly, with no preparation, and then you were careless enough to grab the attention of the Volturi! Then instead of taking responsibility for your actions, you drag Nahuel into it! If that's not enough, you send the Volturi after—"

"Serena. Control your temper."

"Huh— Yes. Sorry, father. It's just...we went through a lot of trouble to get her here. If it wasn't for me we wouldn't have managed so flawlessly..."

She trailed off as Joham waved her silent. Serena was obviously disappointed that her father simply dismissed her obstacles and achievements like they were meaningless.

"My eldest daughter may be loud with her opinions, but, nevertheless, she is correct." Serena's scowl eased slightly at the simple agreement. "And I am equally appalled. Alice, you must acknowledge what is your fault. You turned my son against me; consequently, you forced me to have to take his aunt's life because he was so infatuated with your false friendship and refused to give me answers."

My eyes widened.

_Huilen..._

"So, now it is only fair I return the favor." Joham gestured to Edward, who stepped forward wearing an expression of...what? Anticipation? Excitement?

I grimaced.

My poor brother, cast under some wicked mind control like a worthless pawn in their games. And for what? A shallow revenge for something that was neither by my nor Nahuel's doing. Edward was being used. As I thought back, I realized everything that seemed odd about him had been for a reason. I should have listened when he told me to stay away from him. I should have worried much more about his memory loss. He was dealing with these confusing problems on his own, yet he never stopped doing everything he could to help me, too (when he wasn't under Nadia's gift).

At least I knew, now, this _was_ Edward. Sort of. He had to be in there somewhere still, right? The true Edward?

"Give it up, Alice." I stiffened at the all-knowing tone. Edward was shaking his head, as if he was looking at someone he found stupid. "You and me — we're not family anymore. We're not friends. You've always been an annoyance in my life. I do not like you. Do you understand? Does your tiny mind grasp that yet?"

_Don't let it affect me. Don't let it affect me. Don't let it affect me._ They're using him to get in my head — that's all this is.

"For the love of all that is holy, Alice. You really don't get it."

There was to be a way to snap him out of it. If Nadia is the one in control, maybe by taking her out, if I can reach her...

"There is nothing wrong with me."

_Edward, just stop! _

"Mind reading..." I heard Joham muse. When I searched for him in my peripheral vision, I saw that he and his daughters were stepping back, widening the loose circle Edward and I were trapped inside. They actually anticipated that I'd fight back.

"Mind reading has a very favorable ring to it," Joham said.

"Advantageous as it is, I say we keep him," Serena recommended heartily.

"Indeed. After this is finally over, he would make an excellent bargaining chip. Give him to those Volturi lawmakers and they are sure to let me go in peace."

Oh, this just gets better and better, doesn't it?

"On second thought..." Joham contemplated Nadia. Immediately, I grasped the meaning of his look. Even if his daughters might be unaware, I knew what he was thinking; with Nadia's power, what did they need Edward for? All Nadia had to do was control Aro and the entire Volturi would more or less be in Joham's control. It is a frightening power.

"We don't need this one," Joham decided, then. "We'll send him home and let his precious family deal with him."

An image of Edward returning to our house with my death on his hands and Jasper pouncing on him was what I conjured up, and panic surged.

"Edward, you have to wake up!" I pleaded louder. "Hear me, Edward! Stop this!" Edward growled in irritation, but I kept going. "Can't you read their minds? They are in control of you!"

He cocked an eyebrow at me, and for a moment I thought I actually got through. But then I heard Nadia 'tsk', and Edward was angry again. "They are only giving me the opportunity to say what I've always wanted to."

I looked from him to Nadia, disgusted. They really had him brainwashed.

"Don't be so naïve to think you actually have any influence over him." I glared in Serena's direction — until she said, "Nadia's hold on him can't be broken. Only Nadia herself can set him free. And don't get any ideas — if Nadia dies before she stops it, the damage is permanent."

A whirlwind of emotions burst through me. After all my hoping, this information felt like a slap in the face, a tear in the piece of my heart that belonged to my family.

Edward couldn't possibly... Serena had to be lying... I mean, Edward couldn't really be lost. Nadia's power would have to be amazingly strong to keep going without her around...

Yet, with Edward's own sixth sense, if he hasn't been able to realize and break free by now, how could he later?

So, what would _I_ do if this happened to be true? Would I fight for my life, even if it meant abandoning or even killing Edward? Or was I really going to die by Edward's hands, simply because I allowed him to?

"Your emotional turmoil is a great punishment." I could hear the cruel smile in Joham's voice. "However, I presume your coven is searching for you, and we are too inland for my particular comfort level, so we will start this. Don't hold back, Edward. Kill her. Slowly. Make it painful."

Edward crouched low, teeth ready.

I stared, horrified.

_Wait_, my mind was automatically saying. _I haven't made my decision yet!_

It was too late. I saw him coming at me, a clenched fist moving straight toward my face. When I blinked out of the blurred vision, I was too slow. The impact was sharp. I felt my nose break as I plummeted to the ground. Hitting the cement, I lifted myself quickly, one hand pushing myself up, the other re-positioning my nose with painful cracks. I sprinted for safety, anywhere away from Edward. He was faster than I was. I dodged at the last minute, before he could tackle me to the ground, then swung my leg around, going for a round-about kick to his head. He ducked before I made contact. He rose, striking me across the face in a millisecond. I tumbled to the ground.

He would be on top of me, nails digging into my diamond-hard skin; so I rolled away just in time, doing a cartwheel to put me back on my feet. Edward left a hole in the ground, instead of in me.

He fought like he was possessed, like a demon. He was no longer my brother, no longer someone who loved me and who I loved in return. Edward truly was gone. It was Nadia now. It was Joham. Within seconds of this realization, I was running. It was instinct, I figured — an act of survival. Even if, logically, I knew there was no way to outrun Edward, I had to attempt it. And with Nadia partly connected to him, my visions were failing to register all his attacks.

I had to make moves at the spur of the moment, without giving him time to read them beforehand.

Edward intercepted my path. I sprang over him. His hand wrapped around my left ankle and twisted so sharply I screamed, falling to the floor, head first. Hissing, and slashing wildly until Edward backed off just enough where I could roll away, my mind and body was filled with a frantic hysteria. Hiding thoughts in the heat of battle was easier said than done.

I snapped my twisted ankle forward, and while waiting for the bone to connect back together in the proper places, Edward took my vulnerability as an advantage. I knew he would, so I was prepared when he collided into my chest. Wrapping my arms around his torso, I flung his entire body up and over me, both of us slamming onto our backs.

Then, I saw the opening.

It lasted only a fifth of a second.

It was very likely the only chance I would get.

To harm Edward, to fasten my arms around his neck, to _survive_... It meant I had to take the advantage and take it quick, take it now. I spun my body around and enclosed Edward in a headlock faster than either one of us could comprehend. And then...

And then I just couldn't. I faltered. Because this was Edward.

Missing my chance, Edward slipped easily out of my arms and his foot struck my stomach. I crashed through a pillar before flipping in mid-air to land on my feet.

Edward chuckled darkly. "You will never be able to defeat me, you know? Give it up and stop struggling. You're only prolonging your suffering."

Surrendering would end it quicker, no doubt about it. And the thoughts were certainly there — the hopelessness, the weakness. For the only way I could defeat him was by killing him, and, I realized now, no matter what spell Edward was under, he was still my brother. To kill him was unthinkable. I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Edward kept talking, his words strong, confident and cold.

I looked up at him slowly, gingerly, as the weight of despair continued to find its way onto my dainty shoulders. It really did seem hopeless. For Jasper, I had to fight; for Edward, I had to die. Jasper was my world, my everything, but not even the power of my love for my mate could ever make murdering someone else I loved right. No matter who walked away alive at the end of the day, everyone was going to hurt.

Having a family was a weakness.

Yet, it was also a strength. _They_ drove me forward, forced me to keep going, to keep thinking of anything to spare us. So, even if all I could do was defend myself or try to escape — because I evidently didn't have what it took to slay my own brother — there was no turning in now. I would fight for them, for us, for Jasper (he never knew it, but finding the Cullens had always been more about him than me). Edward would have to forcibly tear me apart and burn every piece in order to completely win this. I wasn't giving up on my existence.

And I wasn't giving up on his.

Who cared what Serena said? Nadia was still relatively young. They gave me no reason to trust that they'd actually exercised her talent enough to know everything about it. So perhaps, contrary to what they seemed to believe, somewhere in Edward's evil mind, the goodness in him still remained. If that was even a slight possibility, who was I, as his sister, to not put everything I had into finding it?

When Edward was finished talking, I forced myself back to my feet and kept my eyes on him.

"You cannot kill me," I said, speaking slowly, my words heavy and drawn out. "Edward... I know you are in there. Please, hear me. You can't allow this."

For a moment, he gaped at me. He probably thought his little speech would affect me. Finally, he said, "Shut up, Alice."

My teeth were out now, exposed, angry. I growled. "No! I will not give up on you!"

"Why do you fight it, Alice Cullen?" Joham questioned, truly curious, form what I could tell. "You won't kill your brother? He is betraying you."

"You made him like this! This is not Edward. You and your sick mind games, forcing someone against their will to kill someone they love. I am unlike you — I will not destroy my family. Besides... I betrayed him once.

"Or, I made him think that I did, when I ran away with Jasper. We had to find help. We were coming back. We would never abandon our family, but we had to make them believe we did. Even so, Edward didn't think badly of me for an instant. He trusted me, even when there was no proof. And I trust him now! I trust that Edward is still in there, deep down. He would never betray me, never hurt me. I will not kill my brother. Not ever!"

"You're full of lies!" Serena accused, jabbing her finger in my direction. "I was there when you twisted your words so Nahuel would follow you. You are the manipulative one."

"Nahuel came by his own freewill. I simply reminded him what he already knew, what he was already after. He wanted to stop you, Joham, and I had nothing to do with that."

"Enough of this." Joham looked at his youngest child. "Nadia, increase his hatred for her. Let us finish this. And _then_ maybe we'll go for this Jasper fellow." He turned back to smile at me.

An unexpected fire began to blaze in my veins. Before I was even aware of my own movements, I was lunging for Joham.

Edward appeared in front of me at the last moment, gripping my outstretched arms at the wrists and swinging me around, throwing me back in the other direction. I flew across the room, crashing through the paneling and landing in the adjacent room. The direction and distance I was thrown worked perfectly to my advantage. Shards of glass slid easily off my skin, clinking to the floor, as I bolted to my feet and ran for the exit before Edward could get a hold of me again. There were a few hisses behind me, but I was already out the door.

We really must have waited for Joham for some time; the clouds were gray and thick, but the sunshine lurking behind them was clear. It was daylight.

Just as thunder boomed overhead, an eruption of bricks and stone ambushed me from the side. Edward had blown a hole through the wall, not bothering to use the door. Why hadn't I thought of that?

At least my humanness could only get in the way so much. I back-hand springed four times to get away from Edward's deadly advances, before parrying some of his more direct strikes. He was amazingly quick. I've watched him spar with Jasper and wrestle with Emmett, but he didn't look half as scary as he did now. He left no room for me to get into his head or to make any offensive attacks of my own. I realized this was the fight I had feared from the very beginning. The sad part of it was that I thought I had feared it solely for my life. But there was something far worse about it — Edward being my enemy. My own brother, who I still couldn't reach.

Lightning flashed, thunder rolled, and I dropped to one knee, feeling the weight of Edward upon me.

Joham must have been outside now, too, for I heard his voice and knew it was directed at me.

"Yes, suffer. I will put an end to your immortal life by the hands of one you once called 'family'."

Seeing my new reflection in the puddle before me — slivers of skin hanging by strands all across my arms and neck, my hair clinging against my pale, pitiful face, my clothes tattered — I couldn't help but become aware that this was it. This was my vision. All these days worrying, on the defensive, and now here we were — Edward and I locked in a battle we couldn't escape...against each other. We would both lose here. I would die by his hands, and he would suffer for the rest of eternity because of it. And Jasper... I squeezed my eyes shut. Yes, Jasper would suffer. Too much. He would blame himself, and he would blame Edward. The two would never see each other the same way again. They'd never get past it.

Edward's arm was suddenly around my neck. I gasped. He gripped my head.

_No,_ I pleaded through thought. _Don't, Edward. Don't do this._ "You'll never forgive yourself!"

As I struggled violently to get free, pain rippled across my head. Edward pressed tighter. I heard and felt the start of the cracking in my neck, stretching out to my skull. It was in vain that I continued my attempt at freedom. A sharp snap resounded in my head. I whimpered. Then everything froze.

It took me a minute to realize that Edward had stopped. His grip had not loosened, but he wasn't moving, aside from a slight vibration, like he was shaking.

Why was he hesitating? Was he listening to Joham's earlier orders, making my destruction as slow and painful as possible? As if Edward's forced betrayal wasn't the worst pain there was.

But then Joham's rough voice rang out.

"What are you waiting for? End her!"

With a lot of effort, I managed to tilt my head back enough to see Edward's face. He was staring down at me. His eyes were not the cold, hateful ones I sadly expected to see. Behind those eyes it was not Joham's tool I was looking at — it was Edward, and he was terrified.

_Edward..._

"I told you to end her. Now! ... Nadia!"

The girl in question stuttered, unsure for the first time since I'd met her. "Er, I-I don't know what's going on. He-he's still under my control..." She narrowed her eyes at Edward, tightening the strings on her puppet.

It was strange how my eyes filled with tearless emotion. I was, in no way, safe. I could very well die in the next few seconds. Yet, relief washed over me. Just by seeing this seemingly impossible act of strength, I was so happy to know I hadn't been wrong. Edward _was_ still in there. And, even a little, he overcame Nadia's hold on him. It couldn't have been easy. Even now, he only had a smidgen of control - just enough where he hadn't torn my head off!

_Edward...keep...fighting it... _

As he stared down at me, I knew he was trying to tell me something of his own. To move, maybe? To break free and get out before he lost control again? Could he feel himself slipping away? If he did, I shouldn't hesitate in complying... But I still did, because a part of me was hoping that if I just kept still, held off from distracting his more hostile personality, then he could muster up the strength to break free entirely.

Edward started to growl, though he hadn't moved a muscle. I tried to decipher it — was it the good Edward telling me my logic was ridiculous and to just get out while I could? Or was Nadia mending what had weakened?

It didn't matter either way, I decided. Each had the same conclusion.

Suddenly, Edward's shaking stopped, and I tensed, thinking I was too late to act and Nadia had resurrected her puppet.

But that's what I heard what he must have. It was a strange whistling sound. It grew louder, and surprised hisses once again escaped Joham and his daughters, making both Edward and me stiffen further. As the sound drew closer, I realized it was coming from above, like something was falling from the sky. Edward looked up at the same time I did.

I only had time to gasp before a flash of white and blonde threw me and Edward apart. I went tumbling backwards, splashing across wet terrain, as I heard the other two fly the other direction, away from me, snarling.

_No, no, no! _was all I could think, as a thousand images of Jasper and Edward flashed through my head at once — none of them good.

Digging my fingers into the ground, clawing for stillness, I finally rolled to a stop.

Someone roared in pain and my head shot up, my mind fearing I was too late.

My eyes widened in horror at what I saw.

"JASPER! NO!"


	17. Consequences

**You know I love all your reviews. Thank you, thank you! And extra appreciation for you readers who patiently (or not-so-patiently, but still loyally) waited over 3 weeks for this chapter! I had writer's block — it was not fun! I still have it... It makes writing very slow, but things are at least finally coming together now. The final chapter will be posted by the end of the weekend. :]**

**Anyhoo, I really hope you'll review and tell me what you think of this newest chapter. It's pretty long and...interesting.**

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><p><strong>CHAPTER SIXTEEN<strong>

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><p><strong>.:Jasper's PoV:.<strong>

Just as the clouds on the eastern horizon brightened against the morning sun, the pavement of the road turned to earth. According to the map — which I had looked up on the laptop the moment I drove away from the Cullen house — this was a sign I was getting close to my destination, so I pulled over and ditched the car. I had more of a chance for a surprise ambush if they couldn't hear an engine headed their way.

To further my stealth, I bounded off the ground. Swinging through the trees would hide any footsteps. Depending if they were inside or outside the mill, my scent might or might not be a problem.

Despite all this preparation, I could only hope I wasn't too late already.

I was barely half-a-mile down the trail when the ground shook. The sound of a massive explosion of some sort vibrated the surrounding area, reaching me even in my place up in the trees. I knew, whatever the sound was, it couldn't be a good thing. I pumped more strength into my bound.

Suddenly, before any more sounds came into my range of hearing, I was bombarded with a plethora of emotions, and my panic surged. It was automatic that I'd be affected, though I tried to contain it. I was moving more furiously than before, now that I could feel them, now that I could feel _her_. There was no specific quality to one's emotions, no individual aura, no distinguishable taste of one person's anger compared to another's. But right now Alice's was unmistakable — hurt and fear and anger and loss, helplessness and resolve wavering on the precipice of her faith in both herself and her brother, added with turbulent spouts of longing.

And then I heard her — an agonizing scream that was cut short, like her airway was sharply blocked. A fierce anxiety consumed Alice just then, and my legs moved impossibly faster.

When I broke through the barrier of trees, in one quick glance I took in the landscape and its props. Every detail I absorbed, so I knew what was going on and how to proceed for my attack, for Alice's defense.

Where the mill's entrance — practically blown to pieces — stood, I was hidden to the left of it; to the right of the building was what seemed to be a steep drop-off. At the bottom of the cliff was more forest, tantamount to the rest of the area. It seemed the wood mill was isolated, having no neighbors to worry about the booming crashes of vampire skin-on-skin or the shrieking tear of ice-cold flesh.

And in the muddied clearing of an assumed parking lot was a pained and broken Alice, barely standing on her own two feet, her body tattered, with Edward's grip around her neck and his teeth inches away from her throat dominating the scene.

Something slammed into me right then. It was instinct — a feral, uncontrollable, dominating influence that eclipsed all else. My mate was there, in front of my eyes, in my reach, about to be harmed, and every logical, rational piece of mind I had shattered. I sprang into the air like a bat out of Hell, already having calculated the trajectory, power, and distance needed to land where I wanted.

The shock that hit me from all directions was surprisingly easy to ignore. I never took my eyes off the vampire who had my mate, and in the next second, I was between the two, pushing Alice behind me with a greater force than I intended and tackling her captor. The mind-reader snarled, always vicious when taken by surprise.

For the first time against each other, Edward and I fought true to our nature. We went at each other like vampires, like predators — in it for the kill.

Kill.

_Kill._

Yes, the word pulsed through my mind. Every time Edward snarled at me, I remembered those fangs being deadly close to Alice. I couldn't allow them to remain a threat to her. I had to rid the enemy of them.

Knowing how Edward fought, I shot forward with no thought, for I had no thought. Whatever my teeth made contact with was being torn apart.

Edward's pain, as I ripped through clothing and flesh, reverberated loudly across the sky, clashing with a blinding strike of lightning. I stumbled a couple steps with Edward, my teeth still fastened to him, before tearing out a chunk of his neck. I was about to go in for another bite instantly, with no thinking involved, only stopping when Alice's threat had perished, when Alice herself shrieked.

"Jasper! No!"

My hold on Edward faltered for a fraction of a second, just long enough for him to break free. I fumbled to get a hold of him again. He jumped back and crouched, but didn't spring.

"He's still Edward in there, Jazz. Our Edward! Look at him!"

I was looking at him! All I saw was the enemy. Except an enemy would have made his move by now, instead of standing there, shaking in anger.

"He's our brother! You can't kill him. You can't..." Alice's voice trailed off in a desperate whimper.

It only took a moment for Alice's tone to reach me, to affect me. A moment to see what Alice meant. A moment to override the protective instinct that ordered me to kill the one who was a second away from murdering my mate. A moment to rationalize what was around me and what I was doing. A moment to peer into Edward's hostile face and see that his eyes were not as cold as I presumed they were. And a moment to realize there was no strong anger in Edward that would cause him to shake like that — just fear. And although an enemy could emanate fear, it would not be mixed with anguish.

Edward was defending himself, and I knew he was also being controlled, but in the gold of his eyes and in the depths of his feelings there was a pain that stood out.

The fog of instinct lifted. I became aware that Alice was right — this was still Edward. He needed freeing. He didn't want to hurt Alice or me. Of course he didn't. He wouldn't if he could find a way to help it. And clear to me now, I saw that, despite what I had held against him earlier, Edward _was_ fighting it — faltering in his steps, hesitating before attacking, cutting off mid-snarl... I had missed these things in my rage, but I recognized them now. Edward was trying to break the power Nahuel's sister had over him.

Despite everything, I felt a swell of pity for the guy. His mind was well aware of what he was doing, yet his body wasn't his anymore. All he could do was watch from inside his mind.

_I don't know how to help you, you know..._

Edward didn't react to my thought, which had to be a good thing if it kept him concentrated on stalling his body's movements.

My eyes wandered momentarily to the silently agitated group on the other side of the field. Two of Nahuel's sisters were looking to their right; one whispered that they didn't have to worry about building a fire anymore — the lightning just helped them out. By the slowly growing smell of burning wood, I could trust that a tree had caught on fire. One of the taller girls looked back at me, then turned her calculating eyes to Alice. She was planning something.

Beside her, Joham was easy enough to identify, being the only full vampire and the only male. He stood, watching quietly. He wasn't exactly what I was expecting, having such a thin frame, slight stature. Looks could be deceiving, definitely, but I wasn't intimidated. If I got a hold on him, he'd be easy to break.

The half-breed who's eyes were on my mate spoke quickly to her creator about the spreading flames down below the cliff side.

"We'll throw them all off, then," Joham said. He spoke with nonchalance, yet I felt the deep need in him to have Alice gone. He wasn't just waiting for her death and the sick justice he had planned — he craved it.

He'd have to burn me to ashes first.

I would forget Edward; I'd take out Joham first, then the half-breeds. Maybe once Nadia was gone Edward would be freed. Who knew how long it would take to wear off, but it was the only shot we had. I'd have to take out all the half-breeds consecutively; I had no idea who was who.

A hiss from Edward brought my attention back to him. His eyes were in the middle of widening, as he brought a fist forward at full speed. I moved my arms in the way just in time to block the crushing blow from gutting me, the only move I could make without taking his arms off (though a part of me thought I should). My feet slid across the mud, trying to find grip.

"Edward..." _I know you read my plan, so you have to find the will to stop._ "Control yourself, just long enough."

He was already charging at me again. His teeth were bared, but snapped tight together, a sign Edward hadn't lost total control. I parried a few more of his oncoming hits before sneaking in a move to immobilize him. He eluded it, but also gave me enough room to put space between us.

Alice's familiar growl rang out. I turned my head in time to see her roll backwards, tumbling onto her feet and pushing herself into the air before the taller of the half-breeds could pounce. The other two girls were getting up themselves, further away, recovering from something I could assume Alice had been the cause of.

My girl knew how to fight, even if I didn't enjoy her having the need to.

I hurriedly jumped over Edward when he advanced on me, twisting my body before he could grab my ankle. Landing, I searched for Alice.

"How many times do you need to be told that you can't win, Alice Cullen?"

"Zero, Serena. Because no matter how many times you say it, I will never believe it."

It seemed I couldn't help it — I smiled.

Serena huffed, ordering her younger sisters to help her end this. Maysun would join the fight against Alice, and Nadia would focus on Edward...who I needed to control himself.

"C'mon, Edward!" I encouraged, putting faith in his strength. If anything, it was probably what my brother lacked most.

"You stopped yourself once" — I hopped back, then to the side, as Edward continued to fight — "you can do it again! For Alice!"

His fist swung at me.

"For your sister!"

Another swing.

"For one of your best friends!"

He ran at me.

"For one of _Bella's_ best friends!"

Edward halted mid-step.

_There you are._

His foot came down shakily, as if they wanted to keep moving but were barred. His brows and lips, angled with fury, contradicted his eyes once again. Inside, his emotions were at war.

From my peripheral vision, I saw Joham shake his head in disbelief, annoyance, and slight awe. "Quite unbelievable. I will hand it to you, Cullens — not once since my transformation in the 1600s have I ever encountered a coven like yours."

"We are a _family_," Alice hissed, irritated, as if she had explained this before. "Not that I expect you to know anything about what a family is."

Joham chuckled, but there was no real amusement behind the facade. "I am actually surprised you knew where to find us... Jasper, is it?"

"When it comes to Alice, I know everything." Or I find out.

"Ah. It is sweet, indeed — the devotion, the duty one holds for one's mate. _So_ sweet it must cloud your minds, because, you see, interrupting my plans is very rude of you. How simple-minded you must be to see merely your side of the situation. Selfish, really. I have spent a great amount of time waiting for this justice; my daughters have invested many days and plenty of effort into the details to initiate it. It is our only compensation for the personal attack you made the day you took Nahuel from us. The complications you two feel determined to generate is overwhelmingly insulting, and my tolerance for your misplaced confidence has lessened to the point that I can no longer stand to see your faces. In fact, why don't— Hey!"

Joham dodged Alice's incoming attack, just as Serena and Maysun yelled their warning. My muscles coiled. Alice slipped right past the man, however; then somersaulted out of the way before he could grab a hold of her. He laughed wickedly.

"This is exactly what I am talking about. Not even having the decency to let me finish what I am saying."

Alice wasn't paying attention to him. Nobody was paying attention to him, because Nadia's feet started shuffling back, a long hiss slithering from her lips; Alice was now running right at the young hybrid. My crafty mate had fully intended, from the very beginning, to miss Joham and go right for his daughter. I felt every ounce of panic that burst through several minds instantaneously. And as Edward's body firmed, tensed, then spun in Alice's direction and sprinted after her, reacting immediately to his captor's threat, I could guarantee one of those surges of anxiety had been mine alone.

It was a race, now. I kept right on Edward's heels, and Serena and Maysun were moving, too. Who would make it there first? Who would stop Alice? Or, who would defend her?

"Run, Nadia. Hand-to-hand combat would not end in your favor."

The girl obeyed her father's order, though she wasn't near fast enough to outrun Alice.

"Serena, Maysun... Stop them. If I have to get involved, I will be very put out with the two of you."

I didn't know what mind tricks Joham was playing on his own kids, but if I had any sliver of respect for him, I'd no longer have it.

Still, the half-breeds would get no mercy from me. They didn't have that luxury, especially as I watched Serena jump at Alice, claws extended. Alice danced out of the way easily, not pausing her pursuit for Nadia, who was running toward Edward. I could only imagine why Nadia would do that, and, just as I suspected, the moment her and Edward crossed paths, he was her fierce protector.

Both Alice and I slid to a wary halt, neither of us wanting to get into it with our brother again. Our eyes met briefly. I tried to decipher what she was secretly telling me. Whatever it was, I hoped she didn't take it personally that I ignored her and leaped for Maysun, as she and Serena went for Alice. I grabbed Maysun with only the freedom to toss her. Maysun whizzed through the air, crashing through brick and stone. When she disappeared into the debris of the mill, I turned back to see Edward in my face. I parried his attack and grappled him for dominance.

Mere feet from us, Serena's hand slapped against Alice's cheek. Skin was clawed off. My responding snarl ricocheted off every solid object in the area. Angering me further, Joham tilted his head and felt a thrill of satisfaction at seeing Alice's scarred face. I dashed to Alice, intercepting Serena's path to her. As I stood between Alice and the others, I wasn't oblivious to the fact Serena had allowed me to get through without a problem. It was too arrogant to think she had allowed me to pass simply out of fear. No — as her mouth hinted a smile, I knew she had done this on purpose.

Serena held her arms out. Edward slowed at the action, side-stepping to the left. Nadia seemed to understand what her sister was gesturing for, as well, for she moved to the right. They were spreading out, trapping Alice and me in their arch.

Joham's spirits lifted. His excitement increased tenfold.

Maysun crawled out of the rubble I had thrown her into, smirked at what she saw, and rushed to join her siblings, who all took a step forward. Alice and I stepped back, an action that never failed to trigger a defense: I had to develop a strategy.

I gathered Nadia was not a fighter. I'd take her out first; she was nearest. Since Maysun was creeping up close to her, all I needed was the right speed to take Nadia and Maysun out in one sweep. Depending on Edward's reaction to that, I could also have time to disable Serena. If not, I would trust Alice to be fine one-on-one with her, and then I'd assist her when I could.

Moving my eyes to Edward, I speculated the hazards he presented. He'd know every plan I made, of course, but I also knew his mind-reading ability only made him my equal. The half-breeds themselves were mere streams to the crushing ocean current that was a full vampire's strength. Therefore, it was being outnumbered that had Alice and me at a disadvantage.

Then again, we'd been outnumbered before. The perception of danger, as I knew, could be worse than the reality.

We were forced to take another step back. Alice glanced over her shoulder. The spike in her distress was poignant and foreboding, and as the wind shifted, I inhaled a heavier dose of burning wood than I was previously smelling. Looking back myself, I cursed under my breath. They were herding us toward the cliff. At the bottom of the overhang, the fire had only gotten bigger. The flames licked up the rock ledge, hungry for us, knowing any one of us could be thrown over. And if we fell there would be no safe place to land. The dense forest was being swallowed up, pathetically burning despite the midnight downpour. We would burst into the last moments of existence once that blaze touched our flammable skin.

I recognized that this was what Serena had wanted to accomplish. Surrounded, Alice and I could only be steered closer to the inferno. With a fire that big, we wouldn't even need to be torn apart first.

Hearing my assessment, Edward gave his signature smirk, crookedly grinning, like he somehow enjoyed this. He was pleased with this turn of events. The anger in me boiled at the sight of him. The taste of fresh venom spilled onto my tongue.

From human to immortal, my existence was shaped from war, from violence, where hatred and distrust were an adamant part in surviving. Years after I escaped that life I still came off as intimidating, cold and aloof, but I had to in the world I was from, so I believed it was safest for me even beyond it. Yet, there were many things I did for people I'd never met. Emotions were always around, always alive, mercilessly powerful; in spite of my destructive upbringings, this made me _caring_. I didn't like sad things, because it affected my own mood. Didn't want the people around me to hurt, because I knew all too well how terrible that felt. These random strangers, these nameless faces I couldn't ignore. Their distress — I eased it. Their fear — I calmed it. Their sorrow — I erased it. Others' happiness was a priority to me, even back then, when I thought I had no choice about being the grisly monster that I was.

That kindness in me has only grown. I was proud.

But one thing I never let go of... One thing I still didn't do and never would... I didn't walk around handing out my heart to whoever came along and proposed friendliness. Something like that didn't come naturally to me. Trust was to be earned, and earned thoroughly, and to love...well, love was always something unexpected, so I didn't make rules for it. All I could testify to was it certainly came after trust. Only Alice was someone who I'd ever truly trusted, implicitly, going against everything I'd ever known before. The feelings flowing off her in that diner in Philadelphia were warmer and brighter than sunshine in the South. My heart hadn't stood a chance whether I had wanted to fight it or not. Alice was the only exception, ever, and she'd never let me down since.

It was what followed her that became the most meaningful challenge. The Cullen family was put through many trials they were completely unaware of, and I couldn't say I ever made it easy for them to accept me. They gained my respect in small measures, but they earned it fully in the end. I granted them with my secrets, my feelings, my thoughts, my Alice, and I never regretted it.

It was these thoughts that roused the ache in my chest. My fangs yearned to wreak revenge on the ones who had stolen someone who I felt deserved my not-easily-given love, someone I'd put my life in the hands of, someone I trusted with Alice. It was such a twisted betrayal. I'd thought so the second I was told what Edward had done; however, seeing it first-hand... Seeing with my own eyes exactly what they had turned him into — were trying to permanently turn him into — struck me hard, as I was sure it did Alice.

There must've been a change in my expression, for Joham, calmly drawing closer himself, grinned wickedly. He was pleased with what he saw, which was possibly, most likely, the betrayal that I finally felt in all respects, just as he had wanted Alice to feel.

That infuriated the hell out of me.

Not only was this wrong, but he failed to consider, blinded by his own ambition, that there hadn't been anything between him and Nahuel to be forsaken in the first place. There hadn't been trust there — only expectation. Joham decided before Nahuel was even born that the boy should follow in his footsteps, that the boy should _want_ to. Huilen's role in Nahuel's life left a dent in his plans that was never fixed, that couldn't be fixed; Nahuel only wanted love, family...something Joham didn't know how to provide simply because he didn't care for it himself. Between the two, I knew, after having explored their emotions equally, that there was no love. And although sad, it was a solid reason that what Joham deemed justifiable was merely an excuse, a vent for his hatred toward the vampires who had ruined his fun. Because that was where the difference really lied:

Joham held anger and irritation. There was no hurt, no sorrow, no pain. He didn't care about Nahuel — the boy; he had only ever wanted Nahuel — the creation.

Our betrayals were vastly different. Yet, Joham demanded compassion when there was no compassion within him, and so he'd get none from me.

Reasoning with the sinister experimenter held no point at this stage. Saying anything would be a waste of my breath. We'd skip the talking. I could already feel the end of this battle nearing. The next moves would decide it. And I would do everything to get back the normalcy, the happiness I knew Alice wanted so badly to return to.

_As for you, Edward..._

Before I could comment, in thought or otherwise, my brother's expression blanked. Every distinction of emotion in his face was eliminated. His fists began clenching and releasing.

Edward was unsure again. He was aware; he was fighting.

It was in that, that I realized, no matter how tough Edward's will was, he could only do so much. He wasn't breaking free on his own. It was nothing I could hold against him or depend on him for. I just had to avoid him at all costs.

If I could manage, I'd strictly stick to the half-breeds.

They made it extremely easy for me once Alice suddenly dashed out of my watchful peripheral view and up the length of a massive pine. The sisters were quick to chase after her. They didn't even think about what they were doing.

But then, I wasn't sure Alice did, either.

Leave it to my dauntless mate to change the playing field, from flat ground to unstable heights right on the edge of a cliff — a cliff no vampire-related species wanted to be fighting next to at this time. One mistake and, there was no doubt in my mind, someone was falling into the glowing flames.

"Alice..." I growled from deep in my chest, scaling the tree myself, Edward quickly becoming my shadow; apparently, none of us were thinking straight.

Alice was quick, agile, everything I expected her to be, as she raced up the body of the tree, through its high branches without clipping one. Her determination was alive and well. Whatever plan Alice might have was lost to me. Perhaps she was trying to seek an advantage, an escape. Maybe it was a ploy to help _me_ somehow, though it certainly had to be risky considering her visions weren't up to par.

Winding through branches, hopping from one bough to the next, I tailed my mate and the half-breeds who were after her. Nadia was slowest; I reached for her ankle, grabbed on before she knew I was that close, and flung her to the ground, shaving the tree of its branches as she went. Unfortunately, her scream awakened Edward the Avenger. I slid to the other side of the trunk, barely keeping safely away from him. This whole ordeal was dragging out entirely because of he couldn't leave me alone, and I couldn't stop him without killing him, which was unthinkable unless Alice was on the brink of death. And I had faith it wouldn't come to that.

Alice reached the top bough, the wind swaying her footrest, and she glimpsed downward. Her objects of attention were Serena and Maysun; the sisters were chopping off branch after branch, clearing their path, and mine, while also giving me less to grab onto. And I didn't have to option to stop and take a note of my available options with Edward in constant pursuit. Then, Alice suddenly planted her feet in position, crouched, and pushed off. By her direction, I calculated she'd land at least thirty feet away from the hill's ledge and from Joham, and would hopefully start running further immediately. Good.

Serena and Maysun both sprang after her, not quite as accurate or as graceful.

And in that instant, I became aware, with slight chagrin, that I hadn't had to follow Alice up into a tree; she had everything covered. The half-breeds were after her, and I could've gotten around Edward without fighting him, and then the half-breeds would have been forced to decide between being stuck in a tree or being caught by me and, consequently, harmed. From Joham's obvious manipulation — and I truly knew manipulation when I saw it — I felt no inclination to murder these half-breed children, but I would disable them if need be.

It was too late, and quite pointless, to dwell on that plan of action, though. What-if scenarios only served a purpose contemplating if they were future what-ifs — the past has gone and wouldn't be any help to us now.

Just as I reached the peak bough, readying myself to mimic Alice's leap, Edward was suddenly on top of me, finger nails clawing away fabric and flesh. Our snarls clashed. And before anything could succeed this, we were free-falling. The air was almost visible, swirling up and at an angle. The noise was obvious, though, and the confusion quickly retreated, replaced with alarm; the tree we were on — it was falling over. If anything, my body should have been moving toward safety, but all I could question was whether the next thing I'd see was orange and yellow heat swallowing me whole.

The fire was there. I saw it. Oh, I definitely saw it, as I faced it. But my descent toward it came to a sharp halt, and I exhaled the breath I had stored.

Nadia, as it appeared, had exacted her own miniature revenge on me and knocked the tree over. She snapped it at a precise angle, so we'd fall directly into the canyon.

Her incomplete satisfaction, however, was a gift to me, for the giant pine hadn't uprooted completely; it hung, still clinging, by mere threads of its underlying roots. Of course, the downside was any sudden movement could topple the thing — Edward and I along with it. Our supernatural speed could easily get us back to hard ground without worry...if only I wasn't bent over, having landed on one of the flimsier boughs; if only Edward's claw-like fingers weren't skewering my calves; if only I wasn't at Edward's mercy, for, if done right, and if he caught any move of mine before I could make it, there would be nothing for me to do besides burn.

"Ja...zz..."

My eyes widened and froze, taken completely by surprise. The one who spoke was Edward. The tone was strained, but it was also my_ brother_, not my enemy, though his body remained unstable. They were the first words he's spoken...yet, there was something crucial that I was missing, something that was coming — a warning bubbling inside my gut. And I've lived with the Cullens a long time, long enough to catch the signs when someone in the family was at their breaking point. So, what the hell was Edward thinking?

My worst fears came to life when the range of Edward's emotions shifted. A severe dread crept around me, mixed with a feeling of loss. Like _we_ lost.

Stretching my neck, turning my head enough to see below me in my position, to see him, Edward saddened, his wide eyes meeting mine. He started forcing his fingers to let go; I started shaking my head.

"Edward, no. Don't you do it. Don't you dare let go."

His body shook. He wasn't going to listen to me; he just wanted to save me. Dammit.

"Don't you do it, Edward... Listen! Fight it. We can do this without losing any one of us. We can beat this, just do not let go. Do not follow through. Goddamn it, Edward, listen to me!" Panic surged as his fingers started loosening. "Think of your family. Bella, Nessie — think of them! Don't think of me, think of them."

When I felt his hand tightening, I exhaled. Of course when he thought about his wife and child his perspective would clear a bit. He'd realize how his death was not the automatic answer we were searching for. Because they were what was important here, now, if it saved him. Alice was safe from him, because I wasn't letting him touch her. And me... well, I was more or less in the same position he was in.

_And just like you, Edward, I can't allow my brother to be lost when I have the power to save him._

As he hesitated, fighting for what was right, struggling to remain in control until he knew his answer, it was obvious what he was thinking: Nadia had experimented on him with all the power she could muster into her ability. What if he could never control himself again? What if this was permanent, leaving him fighting and struggling forever, leaving him murderous? Was that any better for his family than ending it now?

Still, I insisted, "Do not give up. This isn't the place to think these things. You know that."

These 'what-if' scenarios were hardly worth contemplating if it meant giving up on something that was unknown to us, many previous obstacles we've endured as a family have proved this to me. This wasn't worth a sacrifice.

_It isn't worth it, Edward._

Edward only grew sadder. And he was slipping.

"No— Alice fought for you—" I grunted as I freed a hand and tried to reach for him, to secure him. "Don't— Please—"

With one final wave of grief, his fingers lifted and he slipped away from me.


	18. In the End

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

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><p><strong>.:Jasper's PoV:.<strong>

It didn't matter the strength of Nadia's ability to control another's mind. It didn't matter how long the controlled may stay like that. It didn't matter how hard it might be to free the victim. None of this mattered, as long as we tried our hardest. And I'd bet Alice and the rest of our family would also believe in this. They'd want him to hold on, no matter what. They'd know we couldn't just give up. But Edward... Edward was seeing things from an entirely different perspective. His emotional state was the window for me to see this, to know he wasn't seeing this as giving up on himself — he saw this as freeing _us_.

So, there was nothing I could say, nothing I could think. He let go before I could reach him.

"NO!" I bellowed so loudly I felt the canyon rumble.

And then I saw Alice.

Alice's body suddenly dove off the cliff, twisting so her legs were within my reach. Panicked even further, my body rocketed forward on its own, flipping, reversing my arms and my legs. My fingers circled around Alice's slim ankles and held her with an unbreakable grip. "_Alice!..._" I breathed after a second of hanging there, still partly in shock, still scrambling to calm the venom rushing like adrenaline in my veins.

Then I saw, with a flood of relief, that she had Edward.

"I knew you'd grab my legs," Alice quipped cheerily. I was too relieved to be mad about the risk she just took. "Now swing us... Uh-oh."

I heard at the same time she did.

Joham ordered his daughters to stop being cowards and make a strike while we were wide open. I hung from the flimsy branches of the fallen tree by nothing more than my legs now, with my arms linked to Alice, and hers to Edward. Our vulnerability was a serious problem.

As Serena stepped forward for the task, a deep need for pride simmering throughout her, I hastily began to swing Alice, trying to gain enough momentum to at least get her and Edward back onto land that wasn't in flames.

"I'm throwing you, Alice!"

"Okay!"

"Not a chance!"

Just as my hands loosened for the toss, Serena made an unpredictable move and jumped on Alice. I secured my grip once again, this time with a third body latched on to our chain. The body of the tree crackled, and we began to tilt. But I was still in motion, and determined to get them away from the fire. When the timing was right, I let go of them again.

This time, they flew too high, too vertical, rather than parallel to the ground. Serena had nearly latched her teeth into the back of Alice's neck; Alice had protected herself in mid-air, while releasing Edward. Edward was thrown to safety, but Serena had to grab onto the tree once again, and Alice clung to her legs. I prepared to launch myself over the length of the tree as it collapsed from the force of the weight, snatching Serena — and thus Alice — up as I went, but the tree miraculously remained in place. There was silence as we waited for the teetering trunk to still.

"Now is your chance, Serena!" Joham shouted.

Serena began kicking her legs, trying to shove Alice off her.

Alice wasn't budging.

"She's not...letting...go."

"Let go, Serena," Joham snarled with a frenetic exctiement.

Serena's eyes widened as they shot to him. "What?"

"Let. Go."

"But... But Father, then I will..."

Joham didn't wait for his daughter's excuse. Intense desire propelled his action to uproot the rest of the tree and — blatant fear erupting through every mind int eh area aside from Joham's — Serena wailed desperately.

"Father, _stop_!"

There was no hesitation from Joham — mind or body — as he chucked us forward.

I was already on my feet, and Alice was already a blur as she climbed up and over Serena. We reached for each other's hands, and I sprang with all the force I possessed, splintering the bark as I jumped into the air, pulling my mate with me. Alice and I barely made it to the edge of the overhang. We latched on the face of the cliff and scurried over the top.

The last thing I felt from Serena, before the explosion of flames erupted down below the cliffside, was the sheer recognition of a true betrayal and the pain that came with it. I felt as if I should've been crying, like I needed to, until the girl vanished from my senses forever.

Maysun was screaming for her older sister, choking on her oncoming sobs. Nadia was speechless. The outpour of feelings was a chaotic current. I felt the need to cry, to weep for the one lost, even if I had no connection to her. And perhaps, on some level, I did pity the girl who had clearly been used. I wondered if the last emotions she felt in this life would've been different if she knew her father did mourn her death; unlike with Nahuel, there was love there. Just not enough to protect her.

Without my permission, Alice yanked her hand out of mine. She pointed menacingly at Joham, infuriated, and declared he would be dead in the next sixty seconds.

Joham's confusion about Alice's newly found anger right after Serena's — an enemy's — demise didn't come as a surprise to me. It was predictable he didn't realize that she and I pitied these girls for their misguidance, undeterred by their acts against us; he wouldn't understand even if he did. He was a monster far gone from his own humanity.

"If you kill me," Joham said, unphased by Alice's threat, "how do you ever expect your Edward to be set free?"

My eyes automatically searched for Edward. He wasn't moving, but he was glaring daggers in our direction.

Joham continued without pause. "Serena's sacrifice was a tragic one. But with her now gone, Nadia will only listen to me. She will only obey me. You could kill her, too, if you so wish to, but it won't matter. Right, my young Nadia?"

The girl in question was still in shock. In her confusion, she didn't know what she was doing. She stammered out, "Y-yes. Edward is stuck this way. It-it doesn't matter what happens to me. It won't change anything."

"You're lying."

Alice looked at me, before narrowing her eyes suspiciously at Nadia. I knew instantly what she said was false; I could feel the pretense as if it was actually visible. I started moving my feet. "Alice... Sixty seconds?"

"Sixty seconds," she confirmed.

Nadia shuffled closer to Joham, anxiety overwhelming her. She was at a loss for what to do, who to trust. Now, without her entire focus on Edward, my brother held his position firmly, both hands clenched and eyes shut; it was minimal, but his shaking was, unfortunately, still present when he tried to restrain himself. There was no erasing the fact he could still come at me at any moment.

"F-father, I don't know what to do."

When Edward started coming after me, I was already full-out sprinting toward Joham, and Alice was already ahead of me. I knew she would leave Joham to me — she was merely being a distraction. And no matter what speed Edward could match, I was too close to Joham to be caught. My foot jutted out to strike Joham the moment he was distracted by Alice, but when I sensed panic change to awareness, it was already too late.

My thoughts were nothing but one giant swear word when Nadia appeared. The half-breed did nothing but gasp when her (so-called) father grabbed her by the arms and forced her to take his place, allowing him to get away. I took out as much force as I could from the kick before it made contact, and if Nadia had been full vampire, she might have recovered easily from the contact. As it was, she went flying...right over the edge...right into the flames that were meant for Joham. Everything inside me twisted and seethed along with Nadia — emotional torture as scorching as her death. My teeth gritted to keep back the things I wanted to say. At that moment, god, I wanted to pound something. I wanted to jump on Emmett's bandwagon and throw my fist into the ground for the sake of unleashing my frustration, because I hadn't wanted to harm the remaining half-breed children anymore than I had to. To an extent, this was the newborn wars all over again — helplessly killing innocent people who were merely deluded into believing fighting was right.

It was guilt-ridden mistakes like this, accidents that I had barely any control over, that molded me in the past. As a soldier in two lifetimes, I knew what I should have done the moment I entered the battlefield — I should have done my damnedest to disconnect myself from who I was. I knew that I needed a rational, methodical approach to violence; I needed to focus on what was safe for me, have a strict discipline, so there was little distraction, and emotions were reduced.

But I couldn't do that anymore, especially around Alice. Suppressing and denying my own emotional standing was near impossible for me now, so I had no choice but to feel everything.

With Nadia's death came that infernal guilt, that extreme grief that I was tired of feeling. Carrying Maysun's suffering, which seemed to be doubled this time around, was nothing short of heart-wrenching.

Still, I rose to my feet, head tall, gaze unwavering as I watched Joham flee. Then I smirked at his absurdity.

"Thirty seconds," Alice announced. Her voice was quieter than before, but still certain. Her eyes were also wide, swinging from Joham to... Edward, who had seemingly crumbled to the ground after his captor's death freed him; he laid there, paralyzed, his breathing slowly fading, as if he was dying. Of course, that was impossible, but it was an eerie sight nonetheless.

In any case, Edward was out of the game, and Joham was a fool, having the gall to even toy with the idea that he would survive this. He had a countdown — thirty seconds was all I needed; thirty seconds was his deadline.

"Father, what have you done?" came a cry that belonged to someone I left behind at the house.

"You..." I heard Alice whisper, surprised, as I snapped my head around and saw Jennifer, her hand clasped over her mouth. Nahuel appeared behind her, enveloped in an ever increasing fury. They must have been close enough to have seen Nadia's fate. It seemed Maysun hadn't been the sole cause of doubled, even tripled, tumultuous emotion — there had been an increase in the people present. And if Jennifer and Nahuel were here, it meant my family wasn't far behind.

If I hadn't just distinguished the sources of strengthening feeling, Emmett would have literally came out of nowhere. I was actually impressed by his speed. Joham had no time to process what was even happening when Emmett bounded into him, pushing him back with hurricane force. I stopped running. Emmett's strength was a power to be reckoned with and I wasn't getting caught in it. I'd wait for him to bring Joham to me.

Emmett pulled his arm back, then shot it forward without warning, blasting Joham's left arm off and sending the vampire straight at me. Catching him, I flung him toward the cliff. Emmett and I were on him before he could stand.

Joham had finally lost his composure; he was frantic, and I was reveling in it like a sadist. And I didn't care. He had completely, thoroughly, without any remorse, hesitation, or mercy, threatened Alice.

He had ten seconds left to live.

"Nahuel..." Joham grunted, eyes finally finding the son he'd let down a long time ago. How could it be he was actually hoping that Nahuel would find any ounce of pity to spare. "I gave you life, and this is the thanks I get?"

Nahuel lowered his head, but not his gaze. "For all who have died, I rather wish I had not been born." Joham opened his mouth, but Nahuel was fierce as he continued. "Do not waste your breath, Joham. Ambition consumed you. You did not love us, nor any of the innocent women you killed. It is over. You are done."

Although I sure as hell didn't need it, I took Nahuel's words as consent to finish Joham off. My internal countdown flashed a zero, and my teeth were in the vampire's throat. Emmett tore a leg off. And before Joham could even bare his teeth from the pain and humiliation, his head was disconnected from his body and thrown over the bluff; his body came immediately after, in various pieces.

In the end, the man was not powerful by any means. And perhaps, if he had understood the gift of family, he could have been.

Watching the smoke change into the darkish purple that was created when venomous beings burned, Emmett looked me over and, feeling satisfied that I was still in one piece myself, clapped me on the back, then went to help Rosalie burn down the wood mill (erasing evidence being a constant, automatic role of theirs) after assessing everyone else's whereabouts. It wasn't until I felt his contentment that I acknowledged it was over. All these weeks and we had finally gotten through it. For me, a fatality had been avoided; a great weight had been lifted. I was suddenly immersed in a light, good feeling. Any hatred I harbored had vanished with the person who had created it.

I heard footsteps — light and graceful and urgent — and when I turned, Alice jumped at me, her thin arms encircling my neck and squeezing tight. She didn't say anything — she didn't have to. I felt it. I knew. So I simply held her in my arms, my lips placing a single never-ending kiss on her temple, as we experienced through the power of emotion what words could never say.

After a moment of nothing more than soft murmuring from around the clearing, a series of small explosions erupted from the remains of the devastated wood mill. Emmett and Rosalie stepped back to admire their handiwork as the building collapsed in a fiery heap, burning away.

Over by the cliff, Maysun still stood, shaken, tears rolling over her cheeks. She was confused, hurt, and guilt-ridden with every reason to be. Nahuel and Jennifer were consoling her, as siblings were for.

Bella and Esme were knelt beside Edward, who looked exhausted as he slowly bent his elbows, trying to push himself up. Carlisle was standing in front of them, his eyes on me, questioning; he was still concerned. I nodded my head, implying both Alice and I were fine. He gave me a nod back, relieved, protective, before returning to help his other fallen son. If my youngest brother's emotions were any indication, he wasn't going to be looking anyone in the eyes for a few hours. The shame he felt... It was to be expected, but it was far from easy for him to deal with, and, knowing Edward, he might not ever get over it. If it was any consolation, if he was hearing me now, I hoped he saw that I forgave him.

I pressed my lips against Alice's hair again. She stirred, then gazed up at me. I tried to ignore the fact that the slashes across her cheek hadn't completely healed yet; at least they would. There would be no scars. Not on my Alice.

"That was so close, Jazz," she finally said. "For a moment, I thought it was over, for me, for Edward, for you."

I already knew this. She didn't have to say it. The relief in her — in everybody — would've been palpable without my natural empathy. Since I could feel them all, I felt nothing short of relaxed.

Then Alice surprised me by smacking me in the chest. "You know you're not allowed to die! I've spent practically my whole vampire life looking out for you, and then you go and climb the tree. What were you thinking?"

She knew exactly what I was thinking about; or rather, who. She also knew I had plenty of complaints of my own regarding the person I watched over with my life, so when I held my tongue, merely bowing my head until we were eye-level, Alice smiled. Really smiled. For the first time in weeks.

"Thank you. For saving me.

"And our brother," she added with a humorless, yet grateful laugh.

"What else were you expecting? I promised you—" I pulled out the chain and pendant from my pocket "—I'd protect you. Didn't you hear me?"

Alice's elation brightened the atmosphere fully; I even let it project outward, toward others who seemed to still need the boost. Alice took the necklace from my hand and had it clasped around her neck faster than she could finish telling me she was afraid she'd lost it.

"You never lost it," I assured her. "It was just doing it's job; it lead me to you."

"You two!"

We turned. Esme — ever kind — had been giving us a moment to ourselves, but apparently we were taking too long and she gave up on patience, which, if I was in her shoes, I probably would have too. She nearly stomped over to us. It was almost comical, had it not been for her tender affections showing me what drove her to us. "You two need to stop threatening to leave this family, do you understand me? Never again.

Alice and I smiled, each wrapping an arm around her. "Yes, Mom."

"Good." She squeezed us into her sides. Her smile softened. "I'm so happy you're safe. If not a little worn down." As Esme's fingers traced Alice's battle wounds, they finally closed up and disappeared. Esme smiled again. "That's better."

"Definitely better," I agreed.

"You two, worrying about _healing_ scars." Alice shook her head, laughing. "Nothing is better than our family still being in one piece. Now let's round up the others and go home. Leaving this dreadful place far, far behind is all I want to do."

"Sounds good." However, I couldn't guarantee her we'd make it all the way home without me pulling the car over, carrying her into the forest, and having a _proper_ reunion. By the sly look she just cast me, I didn't think she minded the inevitable detour.

* * *

><p><strong>.:Alice's PoV:.<strong>

"I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, Edward. That's enough. That's the 30th time you've apologized."

Edward was practically bowing at mine and Jasper's feet — I sat on Jasper's lap as he played Monopoly against Carlisle, Jacob, Emmett, and Rosalie (who had taken Renesmee's place). Little Nessie had tired out and was now sleeping in Esme's arms. It was her idea for a family game night, as we all wanted to be together for a while.

There were no words to describe how happy Nessie was when Jasper and I pulled up to the house — she and Jacob were left behind as the rest of my family raced after Jasper. I hated thinking of how worried my precious niece had been. The fact her father had been a traitor didn't make matters any easier. Luckily, everything turned out fine. Jasper and I were the last ones home, so she'd been waiting eagerly to hug us, already having made amends with her daddy, who was the only unforgiving one in this household. Leave it to Edward to tear himself apart when everyone else didn't hold him responsible. That boy was capable of so much self-hate over things out of his control. If anything, he should be proud of himself — he could have killed me, and he didn't, and it was because of his own willpower. I've been trying to make him see this; though, clearly, it wasn't working.

"That's right," Bella agreed, forcing Edward to get up and sit next to her on the couch. "It's not your fault. You were under the influence of the enemy."

"What a weak excuse..."

"That's enough, Edward."

Emmett chuckled, handing colored bills over to Carlisle and placing a red Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue. "Can you really blame him? I'd be pissed, too, if someone used me like that."

I frowned.

"It really isn't enough, though," Edward sighed. "I...I was all set to kill you. Both of you. I was ready. There were many times I went for it. For me to...to do that... I never thought a man could think things so terrible against the ones he loves."

"Look, Edward. You didn't think those things," I said.

"It sure as hell felt like I did!"

All eyes turned to him, but no one spoke. What was there to say, really, that we hadn't already? And maybe there was a semblance of a point that Edward had — what did I know about what it felt like to be controlled in such a way?

"I know what it felt like," Jasper stated quietly, sympathetically, breaking the short silence. "I _know_. Nadia was in control of your head, though. She _made_ you think those things."

"I still thought them, Jazz. They were still _my_ thoughts, in _my_ head. They're all I can remember. Everything about what happened... It's quite easy for you to tell me to let it go, but my memories consist of turmoil I failed to understand, trying to figure out who I hated and who I loved, who I wanted to murder and who I wanted to protect, and attempting to explain to myself my own reasoning for _abandoning_ you guys... Nothing made sense, because, somehow, I realized I hated someone I loved, that I _wanted_ to kill my sister. Explaining it is impossible, but that doesn't erase how utterly terrible it was. All of you want me to forgive myself — you're my family, you care, I appreciate it. However, I've read and analyzed thoughts for almost a century. One's conscious mind holds a lot of power. How am I supposed to come to terms with knowing my own mind wasn't mine, yet at the same time it truly was? I can't.

"So you can keep forgiving me, and telling me I'm not at fault. But in my head, in my memories, nothing changes."

Whatever Edward was talking about, I would never be able to empathize with him. None of us would, not even Jasper, who would only feel the emotions, not the sensation overriding every thought and action. Edward was probably right — it probably did feel terrible. I couldn't imagine it myself, and I was pitted against him.

I wondered if this was how Maysun felt when she apologized with all she had to us, right before she, Nahuel, and Jennifer said goodbye and headed off together. Her thoughts must have been like Edward's now — nothing but guilt for what they've done, and frustration that they were manipulated. It was sad all around, for them.

Except Edward fought it, and he didn't lose a member of his family.

"Edward..."

"Please don't, Carlisle."

"Well, I'm saying this, Edward," Jasper started, showing a confidence he rarely displayed so verbally in front of an audience. "Emotions like hate and love, they're too strong and should never cross that closely. I get that much. I do. But, Edward, it really wasn't your fault. You showed incredible strength, whether you can see past the bad parts to remember or not."

"I'm sorry, Edward," I said, flitting over and throwing my arms around him. "I'm totally on Jasper's side. All _I_ can remember is you miraculously fighting against Nadia's hold on you. Whatever you feel, I'll spend however long it takes to change it." After all, it hasn't even been twenty-four hours. Perhaps Edward just needed some time to overcome his experience. "It's time to be nothing but happy."

Edward patted my back. "I am happy..."

"Good!" I said, and returned to Jasper before Edward had a chance to continue whatever he was going to say. "Just sit down now, enjoy the fact we're all here — including _you_, by the way... Nearly sacrificing yourself for our safety. Did you store that into your memories? Huh?" A faint smile appeared on Edward's face. He knew I had a point he couldn't argue. "Let's enjoy being together, and watch a rigorous, three-hour game of Monopoly where my Jazz comes in second!"

Rosalie had just dropped her dice when she looked up at me suspiciously. "He comes in second?"

I nodded cheerfully.

"Hey, isn't this cheating?" Jacob grumbled, at the same time Emmett demanded, "Who comes in first?"

"Carlisle," I answered.

Carlisle grinned as Emmett, Rose, and Jacob groaned, forfeiting their money up, complaining about psychics ruining their fun. I already got them whining, which apparently meant they didn't catch my bluff. I mean, I couldn't see the outcome of the game if Jacob was playing.

From the couch, Edward actually started laughing, making me smile wider.

"Thank you, Alice," Carlisle whispered, out of range of his earlier opponents, "for sparing me from three more grueling hours of Monopoly."

"What are daughters for? You don't play favorites for nothing."

"I don't play favorites."

"It's okay. Your secret is safe with me."

With Renesmee sound asleep, Jacob headed in the same direction, and Edward deserving some quality time with Bella, the rest of us decided to break off to do our own things. Jasper and I climbed the stairs to our bedroom, after I hugged everyone for the tenth time tonight, of course.

"Your mood hasn't lowered a fraction yet," Jasper decided to inform me once we were alone. I could tell by his tone that he was pleased, blissfully so.

I kissed him before he saw it coming, pulling him onto the bed, and then simply laid there with him. His arms were all I needed to be.

So much has happened in such an incredibly short amount of time. Looking back, it still frightened me a little bit. It had all been extremely overwhelming, for all of us. I hoped we would never have to experience something like it again. I knew Jasper felt exactly the same right now — at peace, whole, with me. I sighed contentedly, closing my eyes.

It was nice to get back to being normal — well, normal for us.

When I opened my eyes, it happened so suddenly. A vision struck me. I gasped, sitting up; Jasper followed my movement like he was my personal shadow. He was instantly alert.

"Alice, what's wrong?" At first, I didn't answer. "What did you see?"

"We have until tomorrow!" I jumped from the bed.

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes. Hurry, Jazz! There's not much time left!"

"Alice, wait. What's happening?" He was moving as he questioned me. I looked him in the eyes — his wide, worried, tawny irises — and knew he was thinking the worst.

"Noon — that's the deadline." I slid on a jacket and grabbed a purse, and before Jasper could say anything, I finished with, "There's an amazing piece of art on sale in Manchester tomorrow. If we don't get to it by Noon, it's gone. There's no time to waste!"

Jasper's face froze, blanked, then illuminated with comprehension. He growled my name, but I was already dashing out of the bedroom as fast as I could. I giggled the whole way to the car.

Yep, it was definitely nice to get back to being normal.

**End**

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><p><strong>And they lived happily ever after, as the saying goes... But, honestly, I don't think the Volturi would appreciate not being able to kill <em>somebody<em> out of the whole Renesmee mess. (_Aro: Joham was ours! D:_) And poor Irina doesn't count.**

**Anyhoo, I hope you enjoyed the story and liked the ending. Thank you so much for reading, reviewing (*hint*hint*), and everything. :]**


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